This post is part of a Patheos Book Club roundtable for “God Is in the House.“
Abraham Lincoln once described our prayers for the nation with the following words: “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” This is a tough challenge to politicians, including those who pray. While they can sincerely pray “God bless America,” our faith demands that they also pray “God bless the whole earth.” We are called to follow God’s way, albeit fallibly, regardless of our political persuasion.
Virginia Foxx’s “God in the House” presents a tapestry of testimonies by present and former members of the House of Representatives. These testimonies reveal those moments when congressional representatives experienced their “better angels,” to quote Lincoln, and found God to the source of wisdom, courage, deliverance, and self-transcendence. For a moment, they – like us – experienced a wider perspective in which God become more than a word but a living reality.
These days, it appears that Congress doesn’t have a prayer. Partisanship has led to gridlock and representatives, even those who are persons of faith, seem to prefer ideology over the common good. Religious certainty has had a role in the inability to compromise to move issues forward for the well-being of our nation. As Jesus noted, saying “Lord, Lord,” without following God’s way is of little value.
Foxx’s book invites persons of all faiths, especially Christians, to go beyond political ideology to embrace larger perspectives on the planet, issues of justice, and the well-being of our nation’s most vulnerable people. If we are honest in our relationship with God, our prayers take us beyond ourselves and even our nation toward world loyalty. Our prayers remind us that we are finite and so are our positions and that God, as Lincoln said, and not us, is always right.
Faith makes a difference in our vision of reality and our conduct of life. While there is no established religion in the United States, nor should there be according to the Constitution, our religious values have a place in a pluralistic nation. Our religious values tell us that all people are children of God and deserve justice; that women and men are equal in God’s eyes; that the earth belongs to God and not us; and that how we treat the powerless, poor, and vulnerable reflects our relationship with God. In a pluralist society, our faith does not dictate the minutia of public policy, nor does it require us to be progressive or conservative. But, it does require us to follow God’s vision of Shalom, as expressed by the prophet Micah: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (6:8) That is the fruitage of our relationship to God, regardless of our party affiliation. It is my prayer that we discover “God in the House” as we aim at a more perfect union with justice for all.
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