Christian nationalism goes to the local library

Christian nationalism goes to the local library

What can Christians learn not to do from those who claim to speak in Jesus’ name?

Our region made the national news on Sept. 2 and not in a good way.

CNN’s Nick Watt reports on Boundary County Library and the controversy surrounding it in “Armed Idaho locals show up to library board meetings to push ban of over 400 books.”

Named the “best small library in America” five years ago and located in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho, it ironically carries none of the controversial titles locals want to ban, such as “Gender Queer” — a 2019 graphic memoir written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe.

Throughout the piece, Watt exposes how Christian nationalism infiltrates all parts of our society, painting a bleak picture of what goes on in the name of Jesus.

Boundary County Library director Kimber Glidden resigned due to the “political extremism, militant Christian fundamentalism, intimidation tactics, and threatening behavior” she has been experiencing, according to her announcement on the library’s website.

Watt asked her if she felt like she had given in to these threats, if she felt defeated, by retiring, to which she replied, “Partly.”

“But they start showing up at your house with guns on their hips and Bible tracts in their hands,” Glidden said.

Her last day is Sept. 10.

Is this what Jesus would do? Intimidate public servants and force them to believe what he believes, even in the spirit of “protecting kids”?

A few things occur to me as I reflect on this story about how Christians should not be in the public square, including overseeing local library shelves.

First, Christians are to be “gentle servants” to everyone around them. What that means is our witness is not to be via a top-down model of moral policing and thought control, which is the model of both authoritarian and totalitarian governments throughout the world, respectively.

Instead, the Christian way of influencing a society flows through a bottom-up model of service toward all people, no matter their moral choices and beliefs.

I am reminded of one of my favorite passages in Scripture when trying to parse through what is unbiblical in the approach these locals are making, all in the name of the God we supposedly both love and serve.

“A servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:24-25).

Showing up with guns and being incredibly rude to local public servants in the name of Christ does not pass my “2 Timothy 2 ‘gentle servant’ test.”

Second, we are not to “lord” our beliefs and our moral choices over others.

I lean on the Apostle Peter’s instructions to the elders in the churches located in 1 Peter 5 for this principle.

“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2-3).

That phrase “lording it over” is translated from the Greek word katakyrieuontes, which in Strong’s Concordance Greek Dictionary means, “To exercise authority over, overpower, master … i.e. control, subjugate.”

If God teaches pastors are not to “lord” over the flocks God brings them to lead, how much more should that apply to us Christians in the public sphere?

The way God works in the world today, what is defined as a dispensation in Christian circles, even constrains his rule over us. Meaning, he only rules over us if we use our freewill to obey and surrender to him and his principles, which are found in the whole counsel of God’s word.

However, because we are finite and he is infinite, there are going to be disagreements among his finite creatures as to how to live out his will. Thereby, we need to live in a free society that promotes agreeing to disagree agreeably with one another and with unbelievers.

Demanding a library ban books that you don’t agree with in a pluralistic society does not pass the “1 Peter 5 ‘lording over’ test.”

Finally, God desires his children live at peace with everyone, not just Christians (or non-Christians) who believe like them.

Romans 12:17-18 articulates this idea beautifully and is what I will define as my “Romans 12 ‘live at peace’ test.”

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone.”

In the case of banning books, Christians who desire to live at peace in a society with variant points of view should not force others to read books only they approve. Rather, they should promote a free society where people can choose what they want to read.

That doesn’t mean we agree with everything nor shield the world from our influence, but it does mean we encourage and create safe spaces for peaceful exchanges of ideas.

Isn’t this what Jesus would do?