Late last week Presidential candidate Mitt Romney shared his perspective on how faith- his faith- shapes his values, and presumably makes him an ideal candidate for President. I did not hear the speech but have read the speech (it is available on his website (http://mittromney.com/News/Speeches/Faith_In_America). I am troubled about his assertion that Jesus is - "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind. My church's beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history." There is a distinct difference between an evangelical understanding of Jesus and a Mormon understanding. Of course, a politician will try and stress what links people instead of that which divides.

Perhaps even more troubling is the faith he describes. It is almost as though he describes a faith in the idea of what it is to be an American. I stumbled across remarks by James K. A. Smith, a professor at Calvin College here-http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/blog/2007/12/james-ka-smith-the-god-of-amer.html. Smith writes that "from where I sit, it looks like Romney's "own" faith is faith in America. Americans needn't worry about Romney's Mormonism because, at the end of the day, the faith that trumps all others is "Americanism."
Is Americanism truly a faith which saves? Or is Americanism simply a 'faith' that unites us as a people?

I have been deliberately reading several books and blogs about what it means to be a missional church. I stumbled across this sentence in Missional Church, edited by Darrell Guder (published in 1998 by Eerdmans):
most churches "behave as if the church's goals and the goals of the nation-state were entirely compatible...Whenever the church has a vested interest in the status quo- politically, economically, socially,- it can easily be captivated by the powers, the institutions, the spirits, and the authorities of the world.( pp. 112-113).

I certainly don't have all the answers, all I seem to have are questions. But I am committed to discovering God's purpose for the church He has called me to serve- and that requires more than simple faith in American ideals and principles. It calls for a radical faith in God- who has revealed Himself perfectly and finally in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Steve