It's extraordinarily difficult to speak religion into the public square.  I was reminded of this afresh after I read several articles about the religious beliefs of Mike Johnson, the newly elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.  Although I have no reason to doubt Johnson's description of himself as a born again evangelical Christian, as someone who also considers himself to be a born again evangelical Christian, I do have reason to question how Johnson sees his beliefs working out in his capacity as a public figure.

    Even allowing that some of Johnson's remarks may have been intended either for political soundbites or taken out of context, I still find them troubling.  I find them troubling not only because I do not share the conclusions to which they come, but, bigger picture, I find them troubling because they seem to overlook the very fragile hold we pitiable and finite humans have on the meaning of the biblical text.

    Not one person on the planet has a monopoly, in all times and places, on the precise and absolute meaning of biblical scripture.  Hence, when I read that Johnson proclaimed that God has "ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment," using words that he is surely basing on his understanding of the absolute sovereignty of God (a truth I readily affirm), I cringe.  Has he really considered the implications of this statement?

    Johnson also states that while the Bible teaches Christian to practice "personal charity," the commandment (the Hebrew belief, one embedded deeply in the Old Testament scriptures, scriptures which Christians almost universally hold to be as true as those of the New Testament, that we must care for the ger, the "foreigner" or "stranger" re:  immigrants) "was never directed to the government."

    Really?  Do not most Americans agree that the American government is a government (to quote Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address) "to the people, by the people, and for the people" and that, rightly, understood, the government is therefore an extension of the people?  Does charity stop at our front door?

    Again, Mr. Johnson, think carefully about how you frame your beliefs.  You may end up not "Christianizing" America, as seems to be your goal, but instead will fracture it even more than it already is.  Be careful for what you wish for.

    God is a very big God.

    And no, we do not "got this."