Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
Proverbs 9:9
I don't know about you, but I struggle with involvement in issues affecting society.
I grew up attending church in a fairly conservative evangelical denomination. One core premise we were taught was this: 2 Corinthians 5:20 states "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us..." As ambassadors of another Kingdom altogether, we are not to get involved in the affairs of the countries in which we live. The follow-up to this was that we don't vote, we don't exercise our civic rights or duties, and we don't get involved in societal (read: politically-charged) issues. As Christians, we had two main instructions from our King: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and you shall love your neighbour as yourself." (The Great Commandments --Matthew 22:37 & 39) And that was interpreted as living a godly life, with a focus on the gospel.
As I grew older, I began to bump up against verses that conflicted with the premise of non-involvement. As a teacher, I wrestled with whether I should participate in strike action or not; some of my Christian colleagues said (and chose) no, while others said (and chose) yes. I saw Paul the apostle claiming his right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar; is that the same as my legal and democratic right to strike once the appropriate steps had been followed? A tough decision, and one for which Christians I respected ended up concluding differently. Ultimately, I questioned my own heart: was I striking to get better pay or benefits for me, or was my goal to achieve better conditions in which my students could learn? I used the latter as my guide, because I believed that was an aspect of practically loving my neighbour (in this case, my students) as myself. Much like the Good Samaritan, I was incurring a cost (loss of pay) in order to bless and benefit another (my students).
In this most recent issue, the one involving a stand against the mandates, I have heard Christians state that we shouldn't get involved; as ambassadors, our focus should be the gospel. But often, what they mean is a very narrow definition of the phrase "focus on the gospel" and it's often interpreted as "live according to God's instruction from the Word and preach the gospel on Sunday in church". None of those are bad things of course; we ought to live lives of holiness. 1 Peter 1:16 reminds us "You shall be holy, for I am holy." As far as preaching the gospel in church, I have to question why Jesus didn't say "Bring all the nations to your church to hear the gospel" but instead said, in Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations ..."
And furthermore, what is the gospel? Is it a set of instructions you follow in order to "get out of hell free"? Inadvertently, that was the lesson I learned in church: preaching the gospel is telling people how to get saved from the penalty of their sins and get to heaven; pretty much zero impact on all the days inbetween. I have since learned that the gospel is so much more. The gospel is not just about how to get saved; that's simply the first step. No, the gospel is relevant to every single day of our lives thereafter as well; not just to inspire a heart of thankfulness, but how to live each day after we place our faith and trust in Jesus! The gospel is a lens through which we now see everything anew, and it directs and empowers our lives for Him.
What does it mean to be "salt" and "light", a la Matthew 5:13-16? Salt only acts as a preservative when it is in direct and complete contact with the meat it is preserving. How do we as believers act as a preservative if we stick to our "holy huddles" and have no engagement with the society around us? How can we be light in the world if we have no engagement with the world, no audience in the world? Are we then not just lights under bushel baskets?
What does it mean to pray "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven ..." Do we just pray this, or ought we to be actively involved in making this a reality? How does James 2:18 speak into this? "You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." I'm beginning to see that there is so much more to a life of faith than just living my quiet life in my home and my church. And if it is true for me as a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, then it is true of me even more as a pastor of a local body of believers. I need to wisely lead the people in my charge through these times, teaching them how to navigate these times biblically and then coaching them as they put into practice what they've been taught.
One question I've been consistently asking myself is this: under which set of conditions will we have more freedom to live and preach the truth of God's Word, to gather for the purpose of worship and teaching, and to live out God's clear instruction for His church, as to gathering, discipling, ministering and exhorting? To me, the clear answer is that this country's government is very pleased with the control they exert over the people. What may have begun as a process intended to protect the people has evolved into a process to contain the people. And this has certainly been nowhere more clear than in regard to the Christian church in Canada.
In the book of Exodus, God used Moses, a man with (apparently) some speech issues to be His spokesman before the greatest power in the civilized world at that time ... and despite what seemed like overwhelming odds, God brought His oppressed people out of Egypt. I see some parallels to Canada today, especially to the protest in Ottawa. In the book of Esther, Mordecai says this to his niece, Esther the queen: "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" I find myself asking whether I have been shown things and taught things and convicted of things for such a time as this. Will I look back afterward and be ashamed that I didn't speak up when I could have, or should have?
And finally, I am striving to keep in the forefront that I need to be humble throughout; there is always the possibility that I am wrong, that I've missed something, that new information comes to light and I need to re-assess. In Joshua 5:13-15, the people of Israel have taken their first steps into the promised land ... and their first battle is going to be against imposing Jericho, that massively-walled, apparently impenetrable city. Joshua is now leading the people; his mentor Moses is no longer with them. I can imagine that Joshua can't sleep, thinking about the start of the battle the next day, and the huge responsibility he has to lead God's people. He goes for a walk and "When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" It is clear to Joshua that this individual is no mere "man" and he wants to know if the person is on their team or the opposing team. "Whose side are you on?" is what Joshua asks. And aren't we like that too? I have cringed at times when I've heard people indicate that God is on the side of those protesting. The answer from this individual hits like a gut-punch. When Joshua asks "Are you on our side or theirs?" he replies "No." Wait ... what? Is that even an answer? You better believe it. He continues "No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped ..." Joshua was face-to-face with the pre-incarnate Christ; worship was the appropriate response. And what Joshua needed to be clear on -- as do we all -- is that God isn't on our side, or on the opposing side; that's not even really the question. The real question is whether I am on God's side. Am I running ahead of Jesus? Am I lagging behind? Or am I abiding in Him, walking side-by-side, listening to that "still, small voice" and keeping my eyes fixed on Him, in case the direction and instructions change, in case He calls an audible?
None of this is simple, or easy. But as followers of Jesus, we can rest assured that we will be okay if we abide in Him and listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to us, even if that means we don't find ourselves on the same side of the issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment