John Hatcher

Religion Columnist

I'll never forget what a native Ugandan pastor said during a Prayer Summit in Kampala: "There's nothing wrong with Uganda. There's everything wrong with the church in Uganda." It stunned me, yet as I permitted the truth of his words to sink deep, it transferred immediately to similar circumstances in the United States. Mind you, seemingly Uganda has its problems. Inadequate, if not non-existent, infrastructure; scant international monies flowing into the economy; their first compassionate government for many years (remember Idi Amin); 65 percent of college students HIV positive. But the native pastor said, "There's nothing wrong with Uganda." Perhaps a native German pastor could have said in Berlin in 1940, "There's nothing wrong with Germany." Perhaps history will record a native U.S. pastor saying in 1999, "There's nothing wrong with the United States of America."

Although I appreciate their convictions and motivations, I believe the various Christian coalitions have their focus all wrong. Rather than pointing to Washington and demanding that a carnal, if not unregenerate, government get it right, I believe they should be pointing at the casual, carnal church to get it right. Maybe more SAC (spiritual action committees) monies need to be spent on waking up the church. Maybe it's easier to focus on Washington as the eternal spring of America's problems rather than America's churches. Now, don't get me wrong. I love the church. I work for the church. And, yes, I'm on the take. But, the big problems that are surfacing in Washington and polling centers indict the church for lack of influence and presence in the making of the American mind.

What needs to happen? What does the church need to do? How can the church make an about-face? It won't be easy. It could mean that the 21st-century church just may have to reclaim some guts, repent of accommodating culture, and put on boxing gloves for several rounds with the world, the devil, and popular opinion. Either America will look more and more like Sodom or the church will look less and less like a religious supermarket (refer to last week's column; available on The Citizen's web site: www.thecitizennews.com).

If your pastor is preaching about sin and he's against it, why not say an encouraging word. He could be a endangered species.

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