Ready, Fire, Aim

Andrew Siebert
ChristianWeek Staff
editor@christianweek.org

According to an old inside joke, the quip for evangelical involvement in politics has been “Ready, Fire, Aim.”

A classic example of this is Franklin Graham’s all but forgotten statement about the use of force shortly after the attacks of 9/11. Graham Jr., departing from his father’s legacy of attempted political neutrality, declared to the nation the first thing that came to his mind—“I believe Islam is a very evil and wicked religion.”

Later, he qualified that he is no Islamic scholar, and that he loves Muslims worldwide. Surely, he does more to provide for their material well-being through Samaritan’s Purse than most other non-governmental organizations. Fair enough.

But in a sound bite from a CNN interview, he said “I think we’re going to have to use every—and I hate to say it, hellish weapon in our inventory, if need be, to defeat these people.” Ready, fire, aim—indeed. I may be a proponent of just-war theory, but the comments revealed a little too much fodder for those who were “Chomskying” at the bit, of which there are many in Winnipeg.

So when Graham set foot on Winnipeg soil for the Central Canada Franklin Graham festival October 20, there were sure to be Mennonites and various inter-faith groups making a fuss about the “super-powered gospel.”

Sure enough, Friday morning, CBC broadcast the story of “dissent” within the Christian ranks. Will Braun and Aiden Enns, Mennonite editors of the culture-jam, spiritual-seeking Geez Magazine (“holy mischief in an age of fast-faith”), participated in an inter-faith awareness campaign that started with a prayer gathering, and then set out to distribute pamphlets to expectant festival-goers.

Their message? Christian faith is about forgiveness, not revenge, and Franklin Graham should retract his statement about nuclear weapons. The tract called on Graham to pray for his enemies and not just American troops (see www.geezmagazine.org).

In response to the request, Graham wrote letters to the Winnipeg Free Press explaining that he is not an exponent of war, and that he is simply a minister of the gospel. He also denied that he once spoke of “nuclear weapons,” which for the literalist exegete, might actually be true.

Festivities continued, and the Central Canada Franklin Graham festival was praised as an enormous testimony to the unity of the church. Two hundred congregations came together raising $1.4 million, holding pre-event classes for volunteer counselors and providing follow up resources for new converts. The entire city was witness to 2,115 decisions to follow Christ at the MTS Centre over the course of the weekend.

Graham’s message came without false analogies. The gospel was preached simply, forcefully and quite effectively.

Initially I was annoyed by the little bit of “holy mischief” on the part of Geez Magazine editors. Why now? Why create doubt and division in the hearts and minds of those who would hear the gospel preached so clearly? Graham’s comments were made five years ago.

Later, and reluctantly, I changed my mind.

Super-power gospel has a price. There were 2,115 converts, thanks to $1.4 million and the biggest name in evangelism. Thousands came for the free music, many left early to avoid traffic. There is no doubt in my mind that some have begun the journey of the Christian faith at the MTS Centre, but there is a more subtle force at work here.

Evangelical historian Mark Noll hits a nerve that might explain our tendency to fire before we aim: the shallowness of evangelical reflections on politics is a result of popular, direct, revivalistic leadership meant to draw crowds and to “simplify the essentials of religion in a way that gives them the widest possible mass appeal.” The result is a trust in “sanctified common sense.”

For example, it is commonly assumed that Graham is a spokesperson for the evangelical community.

We’ve also forgotten that altar calls were invented only in 1830—and by the heretic Charles Finney, who wanted “more results” without the help of the substitutional atonement of Christ. Graham isn’t a heretic, but given his international role, he could stand a course in political philosophy.

Most evangelicals, left and right, don’t care about Christianity’s relation to politics—and it shows. We tend to be reactionaries. Ready, Fire, Aim.