People like big government. Europe loves socialism and many Russians long for the good old days of communism, despite its repressiveness and cruelty. Here in the United States, the tide is constantly carrying us toward big government, and we must row hard to keep from going over the falls.
What is the appeal? In short, the nanny state provides maximum care with minimum responsibility.
Food, clothing, shelter, and health care for me and my family are no longer my responsibility. In fact, I have no responsibility. All of that rests on the shoulders of the state. More kids? No problem. The government has them covered.
One challenge is that the government must find funds to support the system. However, the answer is simple enough. They can get all they need from those rich people.
All they ask from me in return is my vote. I keep them in power. They keep me in goodies. Since there are more of us than there are rich people, we can keep them in power and vote ourselves more benefits. It’s a great system.
Evangelicals have discovered an even better version of the nanny state—a form of spiritual socialism. God provides everything for me unconditionally. He does not expect me to perform. He promises me all His blessings with no responsibility on my part.
That is what grace is all about. He takes all of the responsibility. I get all of the blessings.
This is the ultimate big government. It possesses an endless source of riches to draw from through the sacrifice of Christ. He earned it all on the cross. When God looks on us, He does not see our performance, but only the righteousness of Christ, the fount of endless resources.
In return, God only asks for my vote. That is, He only asks that I pray the prayer, invite Jesus into my heart, and acknowledge Him as my savior, all of which I am glad to do. Just think of the benefits, and they are only the earthly ones. The best are yet to come in heaven.
No responsibilities. Total care. It’s a great system. It is the ultimate nanny state.
The problem with this nanny state, and it is a significant one, is that it only exists in the minds of American evangelicals. It does not exist in reality nor is it described in the Bible. It is a state of our own creation.
Unfortunately, we do not have the creative capacity to give it actual substance. Therefore, we are forced to live in a fantasy world—a state of virtual Christianity.
I concluded my previous post by asking why American evangelicals would embrace a system that violated virtually hundreds of passages of Scripture. We view ourselves as the ultimate people of the book. We pride ourselves on our commitment to Scripture. Why, then, would we adopt a perspective so obviously contrary to Scripture?
We have just seen the answer. This system makes an offer too good to refuse. The evangelical nanny state is too comfortable, and it attracts too many adherents. No one wants to burst the bubble.
And if some killjoy attempts to do so, his voice will be ignored by the evangelical community. He is as welcome as a teetotaler at a beer bust, as an abstinence advocate at an orgy. The nanny state has so many voters supporting it that no alternative has a chance.
However, as with any form of virtual reality, this one can only work for so long before genuine reality catches up with it, before the bubble is burst by real-life forces. Our next post will deal with forces that are about burst the evangelical bubble.