Resistance is a word with many meanings, some of them associated with the militaristic acts remembered and recounted on Independence Day. For the Christian, resistance means living (individually and communally) in countercultural ways—not because we hope for reform, but because this is the call of God on our lives. This call is both the consistent theme of our scriptures and the inward tug of our hearts heard through the life of prayer.

On July 4th, it is appropriate to evaluate the success or failure of this social experiment called The United States. Whereas our country was founded with the hope of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," this dream seems to have been forgotten. Instead of life, we have allowed our government to spend more than half of every tax dollar on war and the military, and individually we now spend twice as much on health care as we do on healthy food. Instead of liberty, we have accepted as normative the slavery of poverty that is prevalent in our communities. Instead of the pursuit of happiness, we have chosen the pursuit of workaholism and overconsumption. Together, we as a faith community must take the path of resistance.

• We must choose resistance when we are told the solution to our economic woes is bailouts, increased consumption, or tax cuts. Resistance means raising the question of what God intends for creation and how our work can fulfill God's intention. It means unashamedly calling consumerism what it is: idolatry.
  
• We must choose resistance in the face of the poisonous inequality that exists in our country and in our world. Our economic system serves those who already have the most, and it ignores the plight of the billions of people in the world who live on $2 a day or less. Resistance means we respond to the biblical concern for the poor through our efforts to relieve poverty.
  
• We must choose resistance rather than American imperialism, which has as its goal the spread of our "values." Resistance means declaring that the myth of redemptive violence is our national myth and dominant religion. We are to pray, as Jesus did, that God's purposes are done on earth, not the empire's.
  
• We must choose resistance rather than acceptance of lifestyles which contribute to global warming. The damage we have and will continue to do to our planetary habitat is profound and utterly unsustainable. The solutions are profoundly complex and difficult, but as Christians we must not allow the madness of the dominant culture to form us. Instead, our vision must be formed by God's purpose, the divine commonwealth.
  

~ Tim Gossett

Continue reading about this topic. Pick up a copy of Resistance: The New Role of Progressive Christians, edited by John Cobb Jr.

This may be the most important book released in the past year for progressive Christians. If you want to learn more about the theology of resistance and how to build a community committed to resistance, this book will give you lots to ponder. Your purchase of Resistance from Amazon or Cokesbury helps keep Different Voice free.