A Guide To Pragmatic Christianity and Conversations

Bill Mundhausen recently shared his new blog post with me. Below is a link to his website.

Parts: A Guide To Pragmatic Christianity and Conversations | Bill’s Blog (wordpress.com)

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Bill Mundhausen

A few days ago, I was thinking about the purpose of Key Gathering Place and Key Radio and what needs to be adjusted in order to fulfill our purpose. For those of you who don’t know, The Key is a community center and radio station at Lake of the Ozarks. You may be wondering what our purpose is. It’s to encourage change. How ironic! Most of my friends could be called “conservatives”, but what America needs is change. Not Obama’s kind of change, but definitely a course correction from where we’re headed. The irony of conservatives in America today is that there is nothing left to conserve. It’s all been torn down. We now have to think in terms of restoring, renewing, and reforming. We need to become this decade’s revolutionaries.

The Key’s official mission statement is this: to return America to its roots; unity, charity, community values, justice, and God-ordained morality and inalienable rights. To that end, we provide a meeting place and a public radio forum to influence our local community positively. Some of you might think of this mission as conservative, but in the current political climate, the old has become new again. It is real progress instead of the political progressiveness that is really regressive in nature.

This line of thought put me in deep pondering mode. The Key Gathering Place is founded on the idea that people have many things to share with their neighbors to make the community prosper. We hope for musicians, artists, hobbyists, craftsmen, and entrepreneurs to teach classes in the main room. We hope to get all that passion off of social media and into face-to-face conversations instead. We hope that churches would stop turning inward, and would become fountains of light. Unfortunately, the community center is stagnating a bit. It makes me wonder whether people want community, or do we just have to step up as event leaders to inspire people to participate. I believe people want community, but just don’t know it because they haven’t experienced it.

Then my pondering turned to Key Radio. I hang around a lot of Christians who say the churches are holding them back; that they’re not getting the real meat of Christian teaching from their pastors. I hang around political people who complain that the mainstream media isn’t broadcasting the truth. I hear from small business people that small businesses lack resources to help them succeed. I hear local politicians complain that social media blows every issue out of proportion. Key Radio is that local media venue that can give everyone a voice, but what should our content providers be saying that provides guidance and solutions for our community?

So Christmas day, after the gift-giving and holiday fun, I settled down with my daughter, Gretchen, to talk about what we should do as this decade’s revolutionaries. It was a disturbing conversation. Gretchen shared with me how difficult it is to explain truth even to her church friends. Here’s an example. One such friend expressed the belief that speaking in tongues is the only evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit. To this assertion, Gretchen responded with Scripture using 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 which says,

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”

There are many such verses that could be quoted because the clear teaching of Scripture is that we are all parts of the body of Christ and each is gifted differently. The Holy Spirit decides which of the various gifts each person receives. Nevertheless, this friend insisted that every believer must have the gift of tongues, regardless of what the Bible says.

The example isn’t meant to get us into a protracted discussion about the gift of tongues. There are also friends in the church who believe that tongues was just for the early church and has become obsolete. This is also an unbiblical teaching because the apostle Paul acknowledges tongues as one of the gifts, and no verses in scripture declare that gift as obsolete. Nevertheless, there are entire denominations of Christians who believe what they believe in spite of what the Bible says.

Gretchen’s real point can be applied to any subject. How do you speak the truth in a society of people who believe things regardless of the evidence? I’m reminded of the conversation between Pontius Pilate and Jesus. Jesus told Pilate, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” To that Pilate replied, “What is truth?” Pilate didn’t ask, “What is the truth? Please tell me because I want to know.” Pilate’s reply suggests a jaded attitude. As Rome’s administrative head in Israel, he had heard the testimonies of both the criminals and the innocent, and Pilate had lost hope in truth because everyone had their own version of it.

It was the lack of hope that concerned me about my daughter’s experience. Fathers don’t like to hear hopelessness in their children. Nevertheless, I can relate to what she is feeling. It’s an information age, but humans are not designed to assimilate large volumes of raw data. In spite of our technology, we are all pretty simple individually. The apostle Paul gave us a brief insight into our simplicity. Writing to his apprentice in 2 Timothy 2:14 he said, “Remind people of these things and solemnly charge them before the Lord not to wrangle over words. This is of no benefit; it just brings ruin on those who listen.” Paul was observing that the Christians of his day had taken the simple Gospel and were trying to figure out all the theological details and convince each other about them. It just made for a lot of arguments without much purpose and with great potential for hurt feelings.

At another time, Paul gave us further insight into how fragmented we are individually, describing us as parts of a body. It’s also in 1 Corinthians 12. He wrote, “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?” What Paul is saying is that each one of us is incomplete, just one part of a larger social organism. Nevertheless, we are individually important because, without our part, the body would be incomplete and therefore disabled.

Understanding that this is an analogy not to be taken literally, imagine that you are a body part, and relate this analogy to the gifts we spoke of earlier. Let’s say the person who has the gift of discernment is like an ear. The ear might consider it normal to sit quietly in church and hear the word. Such a person might prefer to go to a church full of figurative “ears” who will all listen intently. However, if all the “ears” attended church together, who among them would consider whether what they heard was true, because without a brain there is no understanding?. But even if they could understand (even though they didn’t have a brain) how could they share with others unless they also had a mouth to speak? As merely one part of a body, we don’t have all the parts necessary to be an effective body.

Our churches have this universal failure that they have failed to create full, healthy bodies comprised of all the necessary body parts. Instead, the various body parts have segregated themselves into different churches. As a result, individual churches don’t have all the tools to work as an effective body. Because they are incomplete, they lack the checks and balances of a diversified body, so they cling to ideas that aren’t true because nobody challenges them. Instead, each member speaks the church’s doctrine to one another until every member to the church thinks that everyone believes what they believe is absolute truth. And since our churches cling to wrong ideas, few people outside of the church assign much credibility to them. Can I get an amen from the atheists out there?

I say all this in a round about way to get to my point. I need to determine what Key Gathering Place and Key Radio can offer to our community to bring about positive change. We don’t need more forums for people to vent opinions or have conversations. We need answers and solutions, and I have a theory. If you carefully consider my introductory remarks, you will discern that people, me included, think too much in abstractions. We wonder what our spiritual gift is. We wonder why other people don’t see things the way we do. We take our wondering thoughts and try to convince others to be like us, and we know we’re wrong in this, but we think we’ll find the key to resolving it. My theory is we won’t find satisfaction until we let go of abstracts and turn our minds toward the reality we can plainly see.

A quick aside. I know this is hard for Christians because we immediately think of verses that tell us to walk by faith and not by sight. But in doing so, we neglect all the portions of Scripture that point us to evidences. Christianity is an evidence-based faith. Consider 1Thessalonians 5:21 which tells us, “Test all things carefully. Hold firmly to that which is true.” Or think about the fact that Jesus performed miracles to provide people with evidence of who he was. Or when Doubting Thomas asked to see Jesus’ wounds to prove he was the risen Lord, Jesus showed him. The walk by faith commandment does not mean we should ignore what we observe. It means we should walk toward the future optimistically with faith based on God’s promises for our future.

A second stumbling block we have as Christians is the idea that prayer is our most powerful form of action. We pray for God to heal our nation or to bring about world peace or to get us new stuff, but none of this is the Biblical model for prayer. When Jesus taught us to pray, he began with praise for the Father but then settled into a humble prayer for personal grace. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” When he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, he asked grace for himself if it was the Father’s will. Prayer is personal. Nobody knows us like we do and God does, so only we know how to pray for ourselves and only God knows the answer we need. When it comes to changing the world on the other hand, Jesus recommended work. Matthew 28:19-20 reads, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” He didn’t say to pray about it or ask God to make it happen, because it was his will for us to do it ourselves. He commanded us to work.

Therefore, keep in mind this guiding principle; we need to stop turning simple things into spiritual matters about which we might wax philosophical. God’s Word is evidence to us. Don’t pray when we’re told to do. Just do. Our experience of the world around us is also evidence to us. Looking at the evidence, our experience, is always more reliable than abstract thinking. Lets consider then how we can apply this strategy to a few common issues.

What should be done about Covid-19? Do not debate the effectiveness of masks or speculate about vaccines or argue about shutting down economies and quarantining people. When we look at the evidence comparing outcomes between “open” states like Missouri and “restricted” states like New York, it’s clear that behavioral changes made no difference. Human beings have a long history of experience with viruses, but viruses are so common that we don’t think about them. Generally speaking, our immune systems have done the thinking for us by making our bodies able to fight off the worst effects of viruses. Viruses would have become extinct long ago if they killed off their biological hosts, so we can be confident that our immune systems will adapt so we can coexist with Covid. The vast majority of people who die from the virus have co-morbidity factors, medical conditions that make them especially susceptible to the virus’s effects. Those people could best be saved by changing to healthier lifestyles, and those who can’t should isolate themselves. In worst cases they might roll the dice with the injection treatment that artificially induces increased immunity. Most people should just go on with life and, just like other illnesses, stay home when they’re sick.

What should be done about immigration? There was a time when all Americans were immigrants, and then more time when America needed immigrants to help fill the continent. That time is over. Now we can see with our own eyes that urban areas are deteriorating and our internal services aren’t serving our existing population adequately. Rather than argue about moral responsibility for the poor in other countries or how to manage the borders or where to resettle the illegals, we should end the strain. The obvious right thing to do is end immigration across the board. Let’s also discontinue foreign student visas and encourage our own young citizens to continue their educations to reduce poverty here at home. Resolve our internal problems before we even think about adding to them.

Stop arguing whether socialism is good or bad. It’s the wrong question to debate. I’ve been involved in several heated debates that never came to any conclusion. Are social programs the constitutional role of the federal government? Do people become lazy when they don’t have to work? Are conservatives mean-spirited when they ask for person responsibility? Are Democrats simply buying votes by giving away free stuff to gain power? Let’s get back to reality. The federal government spends one trillion dollars more than it takes in every year. That clearly can’t happen forever. Cut the trillion and recognize that social programs aren’t economically viable.

I relate these few examples to illustrate the principle. Don’t ponder abstract philosophy. Consider what is practical. Consider what you see with your own eyes or experience with your own senses. Relating it back to our earlier example about speaking in tongues, obviously everybody doesn’t, so that manifestation can’t be considered universal. Obviously some do, so it can’t be that speaking in tongues isn’t real.

You can use this approach with any decision or question, and I’ve decided to apply it in my own life. I’ve been a district captain for the Convention of States project for five years. I’ve been assigned to check the COS web site every few days to determine whether someone in Missouri House District 123 has signed up to support COS. Then I email them, indicate that I’ve emailed them in the database, and follow up a few days later with a phone call or text. The intent of this activity is to keep people interested in COS and build a grassroots movement of concerned citizens. However, our Missouri legislature has already approved a COS resolution, only 15 states have approved a resolution for a convention of states, and 34 are required. Because everyone knows this, the people I contact aren’t interested. Realistically, my activity is a waste of time until 19 more states get on board, and it is highly unlikely this will happen any time soon. I am setting aside my COS responsibility for now so that I can work on something more productive.

I am going to streamline my activities to do those activities where I can see results. People used to say, “Seeing is believing.” I never thought about it, but that old saying is a very deep theological truth. We need to bring that idea back into our lives. There is way to much opinionating and philosophizing in America today. Are you a conservative? Are you a liberal? Let’s see whether you produce good fruit. Seeing is believing. Look at the evidence instead of the labels.

From a Christian perspective, the evidence has two sources. One of the founders of the scientific method, Francis Bacon, wrote about the book of God’s Word and the book of God’s world. Therefore, when I talk about evidence, I don’t mean the narrow view of evidence to which secular scientists limit themselves. Both the creation and the Creator reveal reality to us. When faced with an abstract idea, follow the evidence both Scriptural and material.

So that’s my hypothesis. I would describe the approach as pragmatic as opposed to ideological. Pragmatism is one of the characteristics that made Former President Donald Trump difficult to categorize. If Trump had Christian pastors pray in his presence, did that mean he was a born-again Christian? If he opposed illegal immigration but advocated for billions in federal spending, was Trump a conservative? Observers were always asking the wrong question by turning it into a litmus test of some kind of standard or ideology. President Trump was simply making decisions regarding single issues rather than forcing every decision to conform to an ideology. This was his strength as a leader, but also why the ideological tribes resisted his leadership.

Since I’m advocating for pragmatism, I’ll cover the weaknesses first. Trump created a new paradigm which he called “America first”. When you put America’s interests first, you can’t be an advocate for illegal immigration or for deadbeat allies who don’t pay their fair share in the costs associated with treaties or for costly social programs that never solve social problems. Because of those common-sense positions, Trump became an enemy of liberals, progressives, and leftists who saw this as a betrayal of their goals. The President also did many things that drove conservatives and constitutionalists crazy because he used executive orders to get things done more quickly than championing bills through Congress, which is the constitutional way to make laws. Trump ran government like a CEO runs a company with an eye on practical results rather than feelings. He underestimated how much both sides of the aisle were committed to their philosophies instead of the actual common good.

That’s the lesson from Trumpism. So many people are driven by ideology and abstract thinking that a pragmatic, practical, observation-based approach offends them. It doesn’t pass anyone’s litmus test. That means following my advice is only for the brave.

If that’s so, then why do it? We’ve already established that arguing abstract thoughts doesn’t lead to resolution, so consider one of my examples. Suppose you really believe speaking in tongues is the only evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit. Why should you care? Perhaps you think if you badger someone who doesn’t speak in tongues, it will force them to receive the gift of tongues. But if we take to heart the Bible’s teaching that the Holy Spirit distributes gifts according to the Spirit’s decision, we shouldn’t question which gift a person receives. There just isn’t any reason to argue the point. Better that you observe whether someone exhibits any of the fruits of the Spirit if you really want to discern their spirituality. But even more practical is the question of whether someone else’s acquaintance with the Holy Spirit really affects your life or whether that is something you need to judge. The advantage then of being pragmatic is to free yourself and others from unneeded conflict and stress.

I observe that there is way too much drama in people’s lives, and most of it is unnecessary. We stress over what the news media has to say when most of what they report has nothing to do with us. The reporting is designed to trigger our ideological thinking. Here’s a headline, “Biden Administration Moves to Reinstate UN Small Arms Treaty.” That headline may get an NRA member all worked up, but what’s the truth of it? The US signed that treaty back in 2014. President Trump un-signed it in 2019. Now President Biden wants to re-sign it. However, in all that time, the U.S. Senate never approved it and the treaty seems to have had exactly no affect on my firearms transactions. As near as I can tell, even if the Senate approved it, the treaty would have no effect. I am not saying that we shouldn’t take action to anticipate and subvert the plans of evil people. Go out and acquire firearms and ammunition now while you can. Meanwhile and forever, ignore the small arms treaty.

As Martin Luther King once said, “I have a dream.” Now I have a dream. Imagine a world in which people didn’t argue over pointless nonsense, but instead look for the good they can do even if it seems to cross an imagined ideological boundary. Here’s my last example. I participated in a meeting with an elected official regarding a hospital vaccine mandate to provide protections for employees whose jobs were being threatened. The official expressed the belief that conservatives should not interfere with the decisions of private organizations. To that I replied that something should be done to protect the employees’ rights against wrongful termination. It’s a philosophical dilemma, but the employees face a practical hardship. To my way of thinking, the practical need trumps (no pun intended) the abstract discussion, so our problem solving must turn to producing the thing we call justice. That’s all I have to say for now.