The Patriot Analogy

No doubt some of you have been in a conversation like this one...

Skeptic: "Hitler was a Christian!"

Christian: "What?"

Skeptic: "He said in one of his own speeches he was!"

Christian: "Anyone can call themselves a Christian, but that doesn't make them one."

Skeptic: "Oh yeah? How can you judge who is a Christian?"

How indeed? The simple answer, "a Christian is someone who adheres to Christianity," tends to be rejected by the postmodern non-distinction between persons. One must define what "Christianity" is, and then it is possible to say whether any given person was or was not a Christian; and at that stage of the exchange, how indeed do we know who a "real" Christian is? Indeed, how (to answer a common inside question) can we know we are?

To answer this, here is a helpful illustration that I have called The Patriot Analogy. To those who claim that answering, "Who is a Christian?" is so nebulous as to be impossible to answer, we would reply with this illustration of a similar question answered, and which no one else would say is nebulous or impossible to decide.

Faith, as we note in the link below, is essentially loyalty. In this light we can ask another question just as well: "Who is a loyal American?" (Or, whatever country you may be in.)

Who qualifies as a patriotic American? Someone who:

  • Displays a flag?
  • Is willing to join the military (or other organization) to serve the country? Or to serve the country in other ways outside an organization?
  • Knows the contents of the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence?
  • Follows the laws of this country?

    Arguably these are all things (though not the only things) one can or must do to be called a Patriot. Yet of course, the absence of these things does not cause us to say someone is NOT a Patriot.

    At a minimum we suggest they MUST love their country. Yet if they do none of these things -- or are unwilling to do them, or refuse to do them -- what do we say? Is it evident that they do love their country as they profess? They may be:

  • A real patriot, but not an active one; or,
  • A patriot who takes issue with some of the claims of the country upon them, but still loves the country and adheres to the core values of the nation; or,
  • A "wolf in sheep's clothing" pretending to be a Patriot, for whatever reason (friendship, etc.)

    By now one can guess that this is analogical to the question, "Who is a true Christian?" Let's rework some of the questions above. Who qualifies as a real Christian? Someone who:

  • Displays a cross or a Christian T-shirt?
  • Is willing to join the church (or other organization) to serve the body of Christ? Or to serve the body in other ways outside an organization?
  • Knows the contents of the Bible?
  • Follows the precepts of the Bible?

    Arguably these are all things (though not the only things) one can or must do to be called a Christian. So in light of the above, does the absence of these things does not cause us to say someone is NOT a Christian?

    At a minimum we suggest they MUST love God. Yet if they do none of these things -- or are unwilling to do them, or refuse to do them -- what do we say? Is it evident that they do love their country as they profess? They may be:

  • A real Christian, but not an active one; or,
  • A Christian who rejects some part of the Bible's teachings, but still adheres to the core principles of the faith; or,
  • A "wolf in sheep's clothing" pretending to be a Christian, for whatever reason (friendship, etc.)

    And of course there is another issue: What about someone like a Mormon or a JW who qualifies on all counts for the list above? In that case, the question turns not just on (say) whether they follow the Bible; it follows on whether they do so accurately. Someone who claimed adherence to the Constitution, but professed to somehow read out of it a model for a dictatorship (!), we would rightly wonder of their ability to be defined as "American".

    Certainly the more "pick and choose" a person is with beliefs, the less likely it is that they can satisfy the definition of "patriot" to a given cause.

    Now back to the Hitler question; is it really impossible to wedge Hitler or anyone else into the fold at our convenience, just because they say "I am a Christian?" To do so, one must show that Hitler was at the very least loyal to Christian principles; otherwise, the claim is unreasonable. Can you imagine a conversation like this being seriously pursued?

    Skeptic: "Osama bin Laden is a patriotic American!"

    Christian: "What?"

    Skeptic: "He said in one of his own speeches he was!"

    Christian: "Anyone can call themselves a patriotic American, but that doesn't make them one."

    Skeptic: "Oh yeah? How can you judge who is a patriotic American?"

    Of course it is always possible -- may we stretch a point -- that some flag-waving, Bill-of-Rights-quoting person out there is really some sort of false patriot, an Eastern terrorist in disguise plotting to blow up something. But we recognize that such people are the exception rather than the rule.

    Pastors who counsel encourage Christians to take a close look at their own lives, in line with Paul who says to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling." How? The same way you decide whether you are a True Patriot -- and if that is something that people have no problem figuring out, then it should hardly be a mystery who is a True Christian.

    -JPH

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