In a recent sermon on his Truth for Life podcast, Alistair Begg spoke of Austria’s policy of “splendid isolation” in World War II. That policy may protect us for a moment, but in the battle between good and evil, splendid isolation ultimately serves only evil and fails to protect anyone at all.
So the question of “pornography is schools” is an important one, but I’m using it here to represent the cluster of social evils that press in on us. The creation order institution of marriage, for example, has been under attack at least since no-fault divorce became standard protocol in America in the late twentieth century. Fatherless homes have devastating effects in the lives of kids and in our communities. Homosexuality and transgenderism leave hollow places in the souls of our loved ones, divide people, and create trickled-down brokenness in every sector of our society.
Whenever we abandon God’s design, pain ensues.
Whenever we abandon God’s design, pain ensues.
Christians will debate the best way to engage on these issues, and this series of articles is designed to add to the conversation. In my first piece, I promised to introduce four elements I called “daubs on a palette,” that, like paint, when mixed together in varying degrees will, I hope, create a picture of Christian public engagement that’s both beautiful and helpful.
The first element is “Persuasion for Virtue.” You can read about that here. I’ll introduce “Communication Integrity” and “Systemic Remedy” in later posts.
In this piece, let’s consider Element #2, Incarnational Responsibility.
Here’s what we know. Words are easier than work.
Words are easier than work.
But Christians are people of the Book. The Bible is God’s holy word. It is truth, and we are declarers of truth. We have words of life. And no one can hear the Gospel unless someone speaks the Gospel (Romans 9).
Interestingly, and not inconsequentially, however, when God considered the best way to deliver on His promise and redeem a people for Himself, He sent His Son, Jesus in the flesh. The incarnation of Jesus was both a fulfillment of God’s Word and the expression of it.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
Jesus showed up!
And before returning to the Father after His resurrection, Jesus told the disciples to do the same. And they did. And later, the apostle Paul, for example, not only wrote letters, but he showed up in city to city.
So, what then, is our “incarnational responsibility” in this cultural moment? Let’s consider three practices that I trust will help us make progress.
Heart-Level Affection
It may sound sappy, but Paul said without love our words are a clanging cymbal. And it seems a lot of our neighbors are feeling like their heads are being rung in the bells of our rhetoric.
Eric Swanson has said, “If you don’t love it, you can’t change it.” And I’ll add, “You can’t love it until you know it.”
“If you don’t love it, you can’t change it.”—Eric Swanson
Jesus got up close to sinners. So close he was condemned by the religiously devout. But in His proximity to them, he asked questions, listened with interest, served them well, and spoke life into them.
And John 3:16 tells us it was all motivated by love.
Before God sees our sin, He sees us—humans, image-bearers, objects of His affection.
Before we see the sexual identity of our neighbors, what happens if we see them? Before we see their foolishness, what happens if we see their humanity? What happens when we see people and love people the way God sees and loves us?
Service-Level Engagement
When I hear Christians talk about public engagement, most of the time they mean political participation.
Let’s be clear: political action and participation are an essential Christian responsibility and opportunity for progress. Christians should run for political office, campaign for qualified candidates, register to vote, actually vote, and so on. Elections matter. Legislation matters. A civilized and just society depends on the activation of Christian citizens.
But most of us will not run for office. Most of us will not draft public policy. And elections only come around every two to four years.
As important as election politics are, political engagement without public service will not produce the results we hope. Even if the perfect candidate wins, the systemic, structural challenges in our communities are too profound to depend on government for solutions.
As important as election politics are, political engagement without public service will not produce the results we hope.
So, speaking to the local school board to oppose a policy, for example, without actually having a record of serving students or educators inside a school building may not land as well as you would want. That’s not because your argument is unsound. It’s not even because of the gap in your credibility. It’s because the solutions are too difficult for your arguments alone to solve.
On one occasion, James and John were caught arguing about who would be greatest in the kingdom, and Jesus reframed the entire conversation to elevate the one who serves. They were not the last disciples of Jesus to pursue political power while neglecting personal, service-level engagement.
Time-Invested Relationships
When Christians think about serving their community, we primarily think about relief efforts.
We host food drives. We rake leaves or paint playground equipment. We take lunch to teachers. Or we collect money for an urgent need. All of that is incredibly important. We must refuse to walk on the other side of the road. Instead, Christians stop, step in, and provide relief to our neighbors in crisis whoever they are.
As important as that is, that’s not where lasting transformation happens. That’s where immediate needs are met and where results can be quantified. That’s where the recipient gets help, and we get the “feel-goods.” That’s where we can get something done in a short amount of time. That’s where we get noticed and our church builds public credibility on the socials. But that’s not where lives are changed.
Lives are changed through consistent, deepening, and meaningful relationships. That’s because, as Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert note in their classic book, When Helping Hurts, brokenness is primarily a relationship problem.
Lives are changed through consistent, deepening, and meaningful relationships.
And if we want to join Jesus’ work of redeeming souls and transforming a community, like Him, we must be responsible enough to make consistent, deepening, and meaningful relationships our primary strategy for serving our neighbors. Otherwise, we will spend our time, talents, and treasures treating symptoms, while neglecting the lasting and ultimate solutions Jesus still provides.
We must be responsible enough to make consistent, deepening, and meaningful relationships our primary strategy for serving our neighbors.
This is how Christians do good in public. It’s how souls are saved, and how the social structures that are buckling under us are rebuilt.
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
EVERYONE’S WILSON | THE EVERYONE’S WELCOME NETWORK
I’m the Executive Director of Everyone’s Wilson and The Everyone’s Welcome Network—a Gospel-driven community transformation initiative. Our mission is to unite the Church to engage the community, so everyone thrives. Very simply, we’re passionate about helping Jesus-loving people live like missionaries in their local community through prayer, equipping, collaboration, and service.
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