Dr.

Martin Luther

King Jr. said

,

“Don’t let anyone make you

think that

God has chosen America

as [God's] divine messi

anic force to be reckoned with.”

There are compelling voices who

claim that God

has chosen America (not

the church)

as a special embodiment of hope for

the world, and then

there are times

(perhaps

in more recent history) where it

seems America em

bodies an anti

thesis of what God hopes

for.

U.S. flags

colonize the altars and the money is brand

ed “In God We Trust,” but

the economy is an eerie reflection of the seven deadly sins

listed in scripture, with a culture

dangerously close to the sins of Sodom, a culture the prophet Ezekiel describes as

“arrogant,

overfed, and

unconcerned.”

Given the fact that America and God’s kingdom are

not the same - and

are often at odds - how do

we resist the temptation

of thinking

that America, rather

than God or God’s

church, is the hope of the world?

-- "Questions for an Empire's Candidates"

by Shane Claiborne
Wednesday, May 16, 2007