In conjunction with the political hype and previous blog posts regarding Mitt Romney and Mormonism, I am subversively recalling a documentary that I stumbled upon and watched this past year, “Jesus Camp.” Filmed in 2006, the documentary assesses an Evangelical sub-culture that pushes their fundamentalist Christian and political views on youngsters in recruiting efforts to combat all ideological opposers. One reviewer surmised, “the Kids on Fire summer camp in Devil’s Lake, N.D., is dedicated to deepening the preteens’ spirituality and sowing the seeds of political activism as they’re exhorted to “take back America for Christ.”

It might be an understatement that the documentary was wrought with bad theology, namely, works righteousness. And much like many Evangelical church services, the campers were encouraged to ‘Feel’ the Spirit, speak in tongues, and see visions. Much crying, shouting and catharsis was exhibited. They focused on one poor boy, who looked despairing when he couldn’t pray aloud or match the enthusiasm of the other kids. Moreover, the leaders seemed concerned that his spirituality was suffering. That made me upset. This was later affirmed as one young female camper stated, “The churches that God likes to go to, are churches where they’re jumping up and down, shouting his name, and just praising him, they’re not acting – they’re not quiet.”

Theology and spirituality aside, the political overtones were deafening. Becky Fischer, a “Youth Pastor” leading these camp experiences, was interviewed throughout the film. Here are the most memorable quotables on her evangelical agenda:

• “[Referring to President George W. Bush] He has really brought some real credibility, um, to the Christian faith.” It is hard to tell from the statement, but she was being serious.
• “I can go into a playground of kids that don’t know anything about Christianity, lead them to the Lord in a matter of, just no time at all, and just moments later they can be seeing visions and hearing the voice of God, because they’re so open. They are so usable in Christianity.”
• And finally, “It’s no wonder, with that kind of intense training and discipling, that young people are ready to kill themselves for the cause of Islam. I wanna see young people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as the young people are to the cause of Islam. I wanna see them as radically laying down their lives for the Gospel as they are over in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine and all those different places, you know, because we have… excuse me, but we have the truth!”

Well, there is no contest, Becky, that Christians have the Truth of the Gospel. However, what Ms. Fischer is describing likens to a ‘Crusades’ mentality that asserts men’s will over how God truly works in Christ Jesus! Even though people easily convert when staring down the barrel of a gun (or being pestered), this does not exactly articulate the message of the Gospel.

Ted Haggard, as you know, the evangelical pastor in Colorado Springs who was charged with homosexual misconduct just this last year, had a few quotable gems in the documentary as well. He says, “We’ve decided the Bible is the word of God. We don’t have to have a General Assembly about what we believe. It’s written in the Bible. Alright, so we don’t have to debate what we think about homosexual activity. It’s written in the Bible.” Interesting. Focusing on Haggard’s hipocrasy [even though he issued a confession and statement apologizing and resigning after receiving his charges], he represents a voice of these evangelicals’ fundamentalist and political paradigms. Haggard stated, “If the evangelicals vote, they determine the election.”

So my question is this; if the evangelicals vote…are they all in agreement on the present candidates? The greater insights political that I have learned is through Luther’s doctrine of the “Two Kingdoms.” Just as Jesus tells the Jews “Render unto Ceasar the things that are Ceasar’s and unto God the things that are Gods (Mt. 22:21),” he teaches us not that the two kingdoms are separate authorities, but that the things that are God’s…are both the things on heaven and on earth; whether the ruler believes in God or not- Further, the Apostle Paul writes to the Romans, “Romans 13:1 “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God.” Ultimately, any and in all offices of authority, are God-given, (President, Policeman, teacher, parent). Regardless of what we believe, God governs and gives us all good things in these offices, in spite of ourselves, for the edification of His church and the evangelical nature of our vocations; to bring all unbelievers unto Himself in Christ Jesus.

I don’t know that a “Jesus Camp” can illustrate and teach about Christ Crucified, dually it is evident that extremists lack the understanding and consolation that Jesus brings; the the Spirit does not beckon to our whims, but brings us Jesus because it is our Lord’s will. As Haggard surmised, “we decided that the Bible is the Word of God…” then I would be interested to hear how they contend with Scripture (Mt. 22:21 and Rom 13:1), and still peacefully conclude that God is in control in spite of a potential Morman or heathen president.