Different, not Silent
Living as effective dual citizens.
It was on one of our many trips back across the Atlantic. We were entering into The Netherlands and there were some difficulties. The customs agent was asking some questions and our family was huddled looking up to a stern man sitting behind a high desk after an 8-hour flight. He then asked to see every form of ID that we had on us. Our Dutch passports came out, then our American ones, a few drivers licenses, two state issued ID cards and a green card to top it off. It was then that I realized that being a dual citizen is both a curse and a blessing.
Holding two nationalities is not completely uncommon. Especially people in my parent’s line of work deal with changing policies and rules on this topic. But how does one get dual nationality? For one they can be born from parents that are both from different nationalities. Secondly they can be born on foreign soil, even if it is just for a layover. Lastly, someone can acquire citizenship in a country through some legal or immigration process. The United States does not formally recognize dual citizenship. However, it also has not taken any stand against it, either legally or politically.[1]At least not right now. That being said, this doesn’t mean that the TSA is any less interested in seeing these foreign documents when travelling through America.
Dual citizenship is a right in America, one that several people have fought hard for. In the supreme court ruling of Afroyim v. Rusk in early 1967 the court decided that the state department was not allowed to take away citizenship of any American except for treason or fighting against American interests in a combat setting.[2] Throughout history when administrations struggled to find a working strategy for immigration dual citizen’s became an easy target. Examples of this are found all the way from Carter with the Bancroft Treaties up until today, as we see with President Trump.
A thought crossed my tired, jetlagged mind seeing all those travel documents piled up on the customs officer’s desk. At some point I might have to choose between the two nationalities that I belong to. That would be like choosing between two equally important countries, two cultures, two families, two languages, two identities. If policy would ever come to that I am not sure I would be able to choose. Although it has come with difficulty at times these two cultural identities have coexisted in my life for twenty years and it has contributed to an identity that is neither completely Dutch nor completely American. It is mix where each one is equally valued and used to complement the other.
My goal is not to argue the constitutional legitimacy of dual citizenship, although a solid argument can be made for the ethics and practicality of continuing policy as it has been for the past fifty years. Rather, I want to compare the culture’s response to the compatibility of two nationalities with their view of how to combine cultural and Christianity. Just as I could not choose between my two passport countries so should we not force ourselves to throw out the Bible for the sake of the culture around us. In the intersect of culture on the foundation of God’s word we find the identity that the church should take up in this time.
The way that reformed evangelicalism has most often responded to that compatibility problem between bible and culture has not been very effective. Though it may not be verbalized the church often times sees culture as a threat that has to be dealt with, fought against, or, and only if there is no other option, the church must contain it.
Mostly fundamentalists usually would subscribe to this way of thinking. The classic example for this was seen at the introduction of the TV. This new electronic appliance was slowly and steadily replacing books, family games, and in Christian settings, the Bible from the central point of family life. Churches, especially pastors, quickly identified the power that was in such a small box. A popular Christian publication named Truth Magazine wrote a feature on this technological innovation. The author writes on the topic of the influence of TV on Christianity, “so, the answer to the question, “Is television having an evil influence on us?” is a definite, “Yes!” We had better wake up to what is happening to us, why it is happening, and put a stop to it or we will feel the wrath of God!”[3] Such a reasoning could even today easily be seen as erratic or irrational. But these words were printed in the early 1970’s.
In general congregations that would subscribe to a fundamentalist thinking do not appreciate change. Change is not a good thing, rather it means that something was not good to begin with. Of all of the environments that we interact with, the culture changes the fastest. A millennial might say that what the author of this article has done is he has given a medium, a TV, the ability to sin. Even worse, the TV is over us. Instead of the TV being a neutral means that we can respond to or use for good or evil it has become an agent of evil itself.
In this setting culture and scripture cannot coexist. Standing with our back on one side of the spectrum of Christianity and culture we see that because the Bible does not explicitly mention everything we need for our interaction with the world we must limit that interaction. This was not the thought a few lone wolves; even someone with the stature of Billy Graham was quoted saying “Prime time TV is now the biggest threat to the nation’s morality. If we fail to recognize and reverse the present downhill course, we risk the total abandonment of the high morals on which America was founded.[4]” Disregarding the discussion if he was right or wrong in his judgment Billy Graham hits the core of fundamental theology. Instead of seeking to deal with the overlap of culture and Bible they seek to push culture out of their churches and families. The result is that when the culture moves on the church stays in the dust. Instead of the Church influencing culture we have the church only seeking to survive the impact that culture has on them.
I believe that we need to be very careful not to lose grip on the culture. In almost every case we must guard against losing our right to speak into culturally relevant topics. This is the role of the church; to spread God’s kingdom in the community, city, and culture that it located in.
This being said there is a very important clause here. As Christians we are going to respond differently to situations. Our view of everything will change because we recognize that people are inherently evil and that there is a God. Therefore, our culture might not understand us, they might not get what God’s word has to say on certain topics. In almost every way we are called to be different. However, we are to be different, not silent.
Noah sums up this idea very well. He had spent the vast majority of his life doing something that no one around him understood. God had asked him to do something completely ludicrous and all he had to answer to people that came to ask, laugh or ridicule was God’s spoken word. He was very different compared to his peers but he was not silent. Noah’s attitude was one that the church should have, one that is defined by a different perspective that is rooted in God’s word. But also one that is eager to share the message of God’s grace as long as that is still possible.
Translating that to today Noah might have had similar difficulties that dual citizens might have. He might often have struggled with the idea if he should choose between the word he received from God and the words that people using, urging him to stop. However, Noah didn’t lose traction on the culture and he was able to remain effective until the end. May the church adopt an attitude of seeing culture not as threat but as an opportunity to fulfil its given role. May we be effective citizens of both our heavenly kingdom and this earthly one.
May we be different but never silent.
[1] http://immigration.findlaw.com/citizenship/dual-citizenship.html
[2] “Ruling Protects Citizenship Right”. New York Times. May 30, 1967.
[3] http://www.truthmagazine.com/archives/volume22/TM022143.html
