The Church's Secular Affair
“It is in the context of secular affairs that the mighty power released into the world through the work of Christ is to be manifested.”
Lesslie Newbigin
When two people love each other, it matters not if they are co-dependent drug addicts, a same sex couple, or between the pastor of First Baptist Church and his wife; it is all God’s love. The Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1901-1905, Abraham Kuyper, said it well, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”
God is love, he created love, and when flawed humans experience it, it comes from him. That doesn’t mean those people are Christian, or that they are living in a way that pleases God. It does mean however, that the common grace of God and the specific graces of God run together in everyday life like the syrup that runs over and saturates your pancakes. Join this idea with Newbigin’s statement that opened this piece and you get that the church’s task is to deliver its product, which is love, to the people of the world through secular sectors of society. And if it doesn’t get to the secular sectors, then something is wrong with the church’s delivery system. It could be that we have sentimentalized love. Like the romantic age overreacted to the age of reason and the power and practicality of love has been lost.
“God so loved the world that he…” “That he” means he did more than feel it, think it, ponder it, sing about it, or write a poem about it. He “gave his only son.” This idea may or not appeal to the secular mind. The idea that God has a son, whatever that means, and that he gave him. One could oppose such an idea with the retort, “It is not that impressive that an eternal all powerful God give his only son, if he knew in advance that his son would raise again, and reign forever with all creation worshipping him.” It would be much more impressive that a human father with limited knowledge and the frailty and doubt that comes with it would give his only son who would be executed, no resurrection, no second chance, that’s it. This alternative scenario was played out in the story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac. A story that skeptics have excoriated for centuries. It trashes their humanly resourced sensibilities. It would take conversion and the illumination of the Holy Spirit and a new capacity to appreciate the mystery of God’s action.
But this is the point - love is action and sentiment without action is empty.[1] The question on the table is how does the church, right now and right here, love the world? How do we deliver our product to a secular society - do we begin by making peace? If you don’t see the problem, you may have already capitulated.
There is a line of thought among Christians right now that we should back up, and make peace with the other side. Everyone acknowledges there is another side, and that we have an enemy. The tricky part is the proper identification of the enemy. I think there is wide agreement that almost everyone is anti-Satan or Lucifer. Think about it this way though... if we, as Newbigin says, are to deliver the work of Christ, his love and subsequent transformed human beings to the world through secular affairs, institutions, and structures [deep breath], how might the enemy come to us? Who is trying to shut up the Church right now? Who is conducting the new Salem Witch Trials? Who wants to cleanse America of biblical Christianity and its followers? Who hates us? No one can hate on the conservative Christians like enlightened liberal Christians who have sold out to the political left. Sure, they can accuse us of the same, but that doesn’t make it true. I can only speak for myself. I do not, in any way, want to cancel, shut up, punish, or curtail the left’s right to say and do whatever they want. In fact, I would defend their right with all my might. I would like it if they would not rewrite the first amendment and punish us for disagreement. I don’t want unity if I must join them. I don’t want unity if I must agree with the state that I have six fingers on my left hand.
There comes a time when sane nations go through temporary periods of insanity. Right now is one of those times. The argument goes something like this, “The peril of the moment justifies amending or suspending the constitution in order to cleanse our nation of dangerous subversives.” These subversives disagree with the bi-coastal elites who control the levers of power. This has been, is, and always will be a totalitarian argument, the excuse to destroy institutions that protect people who are not in power. The problem with such thinking is that one day those in power will be out of power, and alas, they, while in power, destroyed the institutions that could protect them now that they are out of power. Thus, there is no one to save them.
How do you take power away from people without taking their guns or using your guns? You silence them, cancel them, and punish them. You make it difficult for them to find work, publish their writing, appear on television, and use the internet. This is the spiral of silence that is now descending on our nation and is coming soon to a church near you. Just heard that Ryan T. Anderson’s work, When Harry Became Sally, has been pulled by Amazon. One may agree or disagree with the book. Historically, this has not been the point in publishing and free expression, but now it is clear, powerful people who disagree have censored the book. You may argue that Amazon is a private company and they have the right to do so. You would be right about that. However, if Amazon continues such totalitarian practices, it won’t be long before they will not be a single company, but will be broken up into several divisions under governmental control. This will happen when they cancel one too many people who have more power than they do.
It used to be fantasy to think of Orwell’s 1984. That a surveillance culture could never happen in the United States, but this is now possible and is already in process. The genius and power of the internet makes it possible for the Government to ask Bank of America to run a check on all its credit card users to analyze the behavior of its customers regarding travel to and from Washington DC during the attack on the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021. This, by law, requires a warrant issued by a court, but in this case, the peril to the nation was so great, an exception needed to be made. It’s not enough for the FBI to hunt down and arrest those who actually broke the law; everyone who is associated with the rally, march, or conservative political views needs to be securitized. And why? Because they disagree with the ruling class left. And of course, their civil rights need to be suspended so a national cleansing of disagreement, freedom of speech, and right to assemble and petition the government for grievances must be eliminated. This suspension does not apply to those who are in agreement with those in power. As long as you are willing to agree that you have six fingers on your left hand, then you are not in danger.
Instead of shutting up, it might be time for the church to stand up and say, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” If any group should declare itself free from soft totalitarianism it is the Church. The glory of churches meeting unmasked in crowded sanctuaries is not that it is safe or a model of public hygiene. It is because they can choose it and can do it, and it says something. “We are a free society, separate from the state, and if we choose to endanger ourselves, and our families, that is our business, not yours.” Personally, I don’t choose that particular form of free speech or truth telling, but I admire the courage and faith involved in it. Of course, skeptics can call it stupid, selfish, and not Christian, but skeptics know little about things of Christian faith and courage. The country is fast becoming a safety-first society. The United States of America didn’t become great by playing it safe. And when we start doing so, we become easy prey for the predatory powers who will take us down at first opportunity. We are fast becoming weak, flabby, fearful, and so preoccupied with political correctness, that we are destroying the very foundations of liberty and freedom.
In the face of all this is Jesus - the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It remains a fallacy that you can both appease those in power and speak truth to power. Power is fleeting and shifts from country to country, party to party, and person to person. Except in the case of the power of Christ mentioned by Newbigin at the top of this article. Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.” To say it another way, it is the power of God to change a person’s life. This is it, the power above all other powers. Paul prayed for us that we would get it.
“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else-not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ who fills all things everywhere with himself.”
Ephesians 1:19-23 NLT
But this power is not just a religious power separated from all of life. In fact, it includes all governments and all realms of the universal, it is inclusive in that it includes all the kings, armies, and kingdoms of this world. God’s power through his Church cannot be separated from all things, no matter how hard the Church and the other powers of the world work to make it so.
Our role is to be salt and light. The salt preserves the decay of culture. The light illuminates the moral darkness that often includes the church itself. Political parties themselves are at best, pockets of self-interest. Their hold on power is human, limited, and ultimately, a fool’s errand because God’s truth and justice will decide in the end.
“And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 20:11-15 NLT
Ok, custodians of truth, the Church of Jesus Christ, what dead gospel are we preaching that allows us to shut up about this? So much for a pristine gospel that is separated from the actual lives we live. Stand up and speak up, God will take care of the rest.
[1] I Corinthians 2: 12-16, I John 2:11-17, Ephesians 3:10,11
