SACRAMENTO (CA)
Sacramento Bee [Sacramento CA]
December 23, 2023
By Max Rexroad
Writing about my Christian faith has always seemed dangerous for some reason. Politics and economics seem less complicated and an easier link to the world around us.
Yet, it seems that the Christian Church has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in areas associated with education, tax reform, immigration and right-wing fringe politics.
When someone in the broader church does something completely counter to the teachings of Jesus, it is quite easy for a reporter to get a negative reaction from the reader. In the news recently, we learned about a pedophile priest and a school that would rather forfeit a football game than play a team with girls on it. The news media seems to perpetuate the belief that any conservative leader who somehow fails represents the entire Christian faith.
Christians fail every day. Some are very public failures, but countless other failures happen by just living life. Everyone makes mistakes. Yet, there are also many successes and outstanding things the church does often go unacknowledged.
Faith-based health care provides a majority of market share in 17 of the 58 counties in California. This infrastructure is important in our state’s healthcare delivery system in providing services. Although some would like these facilities to provide services contrary to their beliefs, it is hard to argue that they aren’t significant to the state.
Private schools provide seats for about 8% of our K-12 students in California. Not all of them are faith-based, but the vast majority are. Our public school financial infrastructure would not be able to afford to have these children return to public schools. While removing these half million students from public schools has financial benefits, there is a downside as these students are not integrated into the public at large.
Faith-based homeless shelters and kitchens feed and house people all over the state. Some of them stand alone without government funding, but some are basically providing services that the counties can’t or don’t want to pay public employees to do. These services help provide a social safety net that would not be there without them.
Visiting those incarcerated has long been the mission of many Christians. For those imprisoned who do not have family who can easily travel for visits or may not have any family at all, Christians are often the only ones who make contact with those who, at some point, will likely be released back onto the streets. Church programs in jails and prisons are important in giving hope and solace.
The Christian Church is in our communities, serving every day as an important part of our state infrastructure. Sometimes the headlines only focus on those who fall down in their faith and not on those who provide so much.
Christians are not going to change the foundation of their religious beliefs. The Bible is not in some sort of draft form. This is where the rub really occurs: Non-Christian policymakers want the church to be defined by the views of a collective society. That is not going to happen, nor should it.
My wife, Jenn, probably has the best way of looking at how the church should position itself in the community. It is her view that anyone should be able to walk through the doors of a Christian Church and feel welcome. That is what Jesus Christ would have wanted. And she’s right.
Jesus did not hang out in gated communities or at a luxury mall. He healed the sick, forgave prostitutes and helped the poor. The Christian Church sometimes needs to be reminded of these simple facts. It would go a long way toward changing some of the negative public perceptions.Matt Rexroad is a political consultant specializing in redistricting and independent expenditures. He is also a Christian.