Some thoughts on the Church and government.
“He who converts his neighbor has preformed the most practical Christian-political act of all.” ~ C.S. Lewis
I am loving the dialog in the previous comments and I hope it keeps going…there’s certainly much to discuss and unpack with the group. I have a few thoughts inspired by some of the comments that I’d like to put out there:
I would agree that the mission of the Church is not one of developing social strategies to make America function, to supply theories of governmental legitimacy, or even to suggest strategies for social betterment. Rather, the Church is to become a polity that has the character to survive as a truthful society. The Church does not exist to provide an ethos for democracy or any other form of social organization, but stands as an alternative to every nation, witnessing to the kind of social life possible for those that have been formed by their new life in Christ – the “new humanity.†A nation cannot approximate any uniquely Christian standard and perhaps in a fallen world can only hope to realize the principles of justice (much less love or self-sacrifice). Christian ideals can never be achieved by social and political policies, but that can’t stop the Church from living as if the world was as it should/will be.
However, that is not to say that Christians don’t have a responsibility to affect positive change in any way available to them. Thankfully, the United States is not Rome or some immovable “other entityâ€â€“ by God’s design we in particular have been given remarkable opportunity to participate in government and have an added responsibility to make the most of the opportunities that democracy provides – our government provides tools too powerful to pass up. We are as much the body politic as anyone else and because political democracy allows the individual citizen to impact society (for better or worse) the Christian has a duty to utilize the tools of democracy in order to facilitate the ministry of the Church and protect the weak and the needy (i.e. justice). Even though politics are not the Christian’s primary responsibility, political democracy provides opportunities to effect change for the betterment of society that Christians simply must not waste.
I also find all of this energy around the theology behind government and institutional solutions to our responsibilities for justice and interesting response to a call for daily practical solutions that each of us can live by.
“It is not enough for the Church to be engaged with the State in healing social ills, though this is important at times. But when the world can turn around and see a group of God’s people exhibiting substantial healing in the area of human relationships in their present life, then the world will take notice. Each groups of Christians is, as it were, a pilot plant, showing that something can be done in the present situation, if only we begin in the right way.” ~ Francis Schaeffer, The God who is There
This is more of a response to the previous thread, but I thought I’d continue it here. I hope that doesn’t violate some blog rule or something!
Anyway, if I understand this correctly, some are saying that we shouldn’t just sit back and say…taking care of the poor is the government’s problem and it’s not our problem as Christians. And others are saying that the problem can be addressed by both the government and Christians (which, of course, aren’t mutually exclusive). We clearly shouldn’t rely on the government to fix all that’s wrong with the world. If we thought that, why would we be in this group? And yes, Christians are called to feed the poor. But maybe we don’t need to take that literally. Maybe one of the ways we can “feed the poor†is to attempt to address the political forces that are in place that prevent people from getting food, education, jobs, etc.
At the very least, we should participate in the democratic progress. Many people have risked and others have given their lives in order for us to continue to have a voice in government. But maybe some of us will be called to take it a step further and get directly involved in government. Maybe some will get involved in reforming or providing education or in job placement programs. I don’t think we know the answers to that yet. At least I don’t. But engaging and participating in our government is certainly one of the ways that we can “go beyond compassion†when it comes to feeding the poor.
I love the lawn mowing story. We can ask God to eliminate global poverty. And yes, it’s within His power to do that in the next 10 seconds. But just like we can’t sit back and hope the government fixes our problems, we can’t just sit back and hope for a miracle either. Our work, in my opinion, is to figure out where God wants us (as individuals and as a group) to play a part in the solution and to “do well in our unique way in order to reveal the vast creativity of a God who loves to bring change through the most unlikely channels.â€
I’d like to point out that the verse right after 1 Corinthians 3:7
“The ones who do the planting or watering aren’t important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed grow.”
says…
“The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team with the same purpose. Yet they will be rewarded individually, according to their hard work.â€
God is supreme, but we still have a purpose. And we may all end up playing different roles (planting, watering, etc.) in that purpose as this journey unfolds, but I think it’s fair to say that God has already been invited into this process. He’s the common thread that brought us all together in the first place. So, all I know to do at this point is to do the best I can to figure out why God led me to this group, to determine what my individual role might be in all of this, and to learn what it means to live that out in the days, weeks, and months to come. And no matter what that role ends up being, God can certainly show His power through it.
I agree that we as Christians have a responsibility to “make ripples” and that these “ripples” occur through different mediums and in different contexts i.e. individual hearts, Church communities, the government–in the world as we find it. And as Christians our first allegiance is to the invitation to “Love others as I have Loved you.” not to a geopolitical ideology.
I would like to see an end to abortion on demand. Does that make me a “conservative republican?” I would like to see an end to the torture of detainess in U.S. custody. Does that make me a “liberal democrat?” Maybe a different way of putting it is to consider the question, “Who do I serve?” C.S. Lewis noted, “Christianity has not, and does not profess to have, a detailed political programme for applying ‘Do as you would be done by’ to a particular society at a particular moment. It could not have. It is meant for all men at all times and the particular programme which suited one place or time would not suit another. And anyhow, that is not how Christianity works. When it tells you to feed the hungry, it does not give you lessons in cookery. When it tells you to read the Scriptures it does not give you lessons in Hebrew and Greek, or even in English grammar. It was never intended to replace or supersede the ordinary human arts and sciences; it is rather a director which will set them all to the right jobs, and a source of energy which will give them all new life, if only they will put themselves at its disposal.”
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Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:10-17
Only an individual can believe and be saved, be filled with the Comforter (Holy Spirit) and do works even greater than Jesus by knowing God the Father and allowing him to dwell in us. Any organization cannot. Not even the church. The responsibility has been given to us as individual human beings.
….it is great that we have our passions about how to accomplish “social justiceâ€.
So many times in the past I have been guilty of a “full steam ahead†approach while not consulting the Great Consultant.
Social Justice naturally lends itself to academic discussion. We must remember we are dealing with supernatural issues. Therefore we need supernatural solutions God’s word is the authority here. I challenge everyone to utilize this inerrant scripture as the basis solution.
So often we create masterful plans in the natural. Supernatural problems cannot be solved with natural solutions. Pride (political pride, ethnic pride, social pride, et al) needs to be set aside in search of The Master’s Plan. God be expected to work at His full potential inside secular devised plans.
Personally, I am in this group for one reason. That, my friends, is to see the power of God work on this earth. It is time we Christians start looking past our spiritualized intellectual planning and start expecting God to be God!
I ask again, “How big is your God?”