There was some quiet news last week that escaped much attention. It had to do with Mr. Richard Cizik, who resigned as Vice President of Governmental Affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE hereafter) after 28 years with the organization. The impetus for his resignation came from an interview he gave with Terry Gross on the NPR show Fresh Air on December 2, 2008. Fresh Air is one of the most liberally slanted of all of the shows on NPR (which is saying a lot!). I downloaded the podcast because I wanted to hear it for myself. Was this an overreaction? Was it a tiny component of a larger conversation? Was Mr. Cizik wrongly tarred and feathered, ridden out on a rail? As I listened this morning on my way to work it became apparent immediately that this issue was not overblown.
As you would expect from an openly and unapologetically liberal talk show, the topics of conversation steered invariably toward why the evangelical movement, at least the conservative evangelical movement, is wrong on a litany of issues and why Barack Obama is right: gay marriage, the environment, the war in Iraq, nuclear disarmament, government funded contraception. On issue after issue, Mr. Cizik came down firmly in support of liberal social causes and a liberal view of Scripture. The interview details, when they gained steam in this online world as things like this invariably do, caused an uproar and that uproar finally led to the resignation of Mr. Cizik from the NAE.
Quite frankly it was embarrassing listening to someone who is supposed to be lobbying on behalf of Christian churches on NPR groveling before Terry Gross, looking for acceptance like a puppy by signing on to every liberal agenda she threw in front of him. You could hear Terry Gross egging him on by proposing things that clearly stand at odds with the rank and file of the churches in the NAE, and on every one of them he came down on side of a leftist agenda.
This man doesn’t even seem to get what the Gospel is, which begs the question of why he is even in an association called the “National Association of Evangelicals” If you don’t get the evangel, the good news how can you lead an organization of people who are supposed to be devoted to it? I make that statement not because of Mr. Cizik’s support for gay marriage, but instead because of his emphasis on the “social justice” aspect of the Bible at the expense of the saving work of Christ on the cross. At one point near the end of the interview, he spoke about the Gospel being the hope of people getting along together. Is that what Christ died for, so that people could get along together better with each other? See, I thought it was so we could get along with God…
The NAE issued a statement on Mr. Cizik’s resignation and very quickly reaffirmed their core commitment to Biblical values on these issues.
Leith Anderson, President of the National Association of Evangelicals, explained in a letter to the members of the board of directors of NAE that “in a December 2, 2008 broadcast interview on National Public Radio, Richard responded to questions and made statements that did not appropriately represent the values and convictions of NAE and our constituents. Although he has subsequently expressed regret, apologized and affirmed our values there is a loss of trust in his credibility as a spokesperson among leaders and constituents.”
What is disturbing is that he has held views like this, apparently for quite a long time. You don’t come to these conclusion overnight. It was only after the uproar following the Fresh Air interview that he was pressured to leave. In an organization like the NAE, you would assume that conversations about politics, beliefs, doctrines would come up occasionally. I would assume that others in top leadership in the NAE knew of Mr. Cizik’s beliefs and still sent this man to Washington to represent them and their constituent churches, churches that include the Assemblies of God, the Evangelical Free Church, the Baptist General Conference, among others. If he had not given this interview and therefore been forced out, how long would he have gone on like this? When Mr. Cizik goes to Washington, he was supposed to represent the constituent member churches of the NAE. Even though the list of churches and denominations in the NAE includes few theologically conservative groups, you can rest assured that the average Assemblies of God congregation wouldn’t be pleased to find that a man who is representing them in Washington, and doing so while portraying to those he was lobbying that he spoke on behalf of these Christians, was espousing positions that those he was paid to represent would undoubtedly by and large find to be abhorrent. The way he was fawning over Terry Gross, seeking her approval, is a warning to those who seek to mix Christ and Caesar too closely. I fear for those who stand too close to that flame, who get invited to all the right parties and luncheons, that the temptation is to forget their first love. It is not just liberals who have this subtle seduction happen. Many of the leaders of the “Religious Right” have fallen into this trap over the years. Getting invited to the White House does that to men.
The Gospel is not a social justice mandate, although caring for one another is a natural response as well as a commandment. The Gospel is not a political movement, although it should impact our beliefs in secular issues based on Christian convictions. The Gospel is the Good News that Jesus Christ dwelt among us, born of a virgin, lived a perfect sinless life, died as a substitute on a cross and took upon Himself the due punishment for the sins of His elect sheep, was buried, rose again on the third day, established His church, ascended to heaven and waits for that preordained day when He will come again, not as a servant but to rule as King over the new heavens and earth. When we overly entangle the affairs of sinful humanity with the Gospel, we always run the danger of emphasizing the sectarian too much and doing damage to the Gospel witness. The freedom of religion is not designed to protect the state from the church, but the church from the state. Men like Mr. Cizik are a living testimony of the dangers of forgetting that.
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