Search This Site

Friday, November 16, 2012

Politics Is Not Enough

I'm currently reading a book entitled Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey. It's a fantastic read. In the Introduction there is a one page section which I enjoyed reading and wanted to share. She entitled it Politics Is Not Enough. Pearcy writes,
"The reason a worldview is so compelling today is that we are still emerging from the fundamentalist era of the early twentieth century. Up until that time, evangelicals had enjoyed a position of cultural dominance in America. But after the Scopes trial and the rise of theological modernism, religious conservatives turned in on themselves: They circled the wagons, developed a fortress mentality, and championed 'separatism' as a positive strategy. Then, in the 1940s and 50s, a movement began that aimed at breaking out of the fortress. Calling themselves neo-evangelicals, this group argues that we are called not to escape the surrounding culture but to engage it. They sought to construct a redemptive vision that would embrace not only individuals but al social structures and institutions. 
Yet many evangelicals lacked the conceptual tools needed for the task, which has seriously limited their success. For example, in recent decades man Christians have responded to the moral and social decline in American society by embracing political activism. Believers are running for office in growing numbers; churches are organizing voter registration; public policy groups are proliferating scored of Christian publications and radio programs offer commentary on public affairs. This heightened activism has yielded good results in many areas of public life, yet the impact remains far less than most had hoped. Why? Because evangelicals often put all their eggs in one basket: They leaped into political activism as the quickest, surest way to make a difference in the public arena - failing to realize that politics tend to reflect culture, not the other way around. 
Nothing illustrates evangeicals' infatuation with politics more clearly than a story related by a Christian lawyer. Considering whether to take a job in the nation's capital, he consulted with the leader of a Washington-area ministry, who told him, 'You can either stay where you are and keep practicing law, or you can come to Washington and change the culture.' The implication was that the only way to effect cultural change was through national politics/ Today, battle-weary political warriors have grown more realistic about the limits of that strategy. We have learned that 'politics is downstream from culture, not the other way around,' says Bill Wichterman, policy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. 'Real change has to start with the culture. All we can do on Capitol Hill is try to find ways government can nurture healthy cultural trends.' 
On a similar note, a member of Congress once told me, 'I got involved in politics after the 1973 abortion decision because I thought that was the fastest route to moral reform. Well, we've won some legislative victories, but we've lost the culture.' The most effective work, he had come to realize, is done by ordinary Christians fulfilling God's calling to reform culture within their local spheres of influence - their families, churches, schools, neighborhoods, work-places, professional organizations, and civic institutions. In order to effect lasting change, the congressman concluded, 'we need to develop a Christian worldview.'" [emphasis mine]
That final paragraph is the best part. I agree with Pearcey and the folks she quotes in this passage. I believe the best type of transformation comes through grass roots work. Day to day, interaction by interaction. In being transformed people, made more and more into the likeness of Christ by his Spirit, we witness to Christ and introduce the world around us to the truth, the way, to Jesus by our upstanding conduct and preaching. In turn, light breaks through the darkness, unveiling injustice and sin, creating opportunity for confession, repentance, reconciliation, and prosperity.

When we depend upon the political leaders of this nation to bring about true change we end up fooling ourselves and getting less than we petitioned for. Sure, they can bring about some changes, but the type of change Christians are concerned with comes through Christ and his Holy Spirit. Through pray and humble servant love we live out the kingdom of heaven here on earth and see the will of our Father establishing itself among the various elements and beings of creation. We can be a part of the political sphere but we can not depend upon it or place our hope in it or the men and women who make the wheels of the government go round.

If we're going to put our eggs in one basket let's put it in the basket of Jesus Christ. If we're going to carry several baskets, lets make sure we view them for what they are. Let's learn the truth and embrace our reality. Let's change the world by letting God change us and work through us as living sacrifices.

Side note: If you live in the Vancouver Washington area and you want to read this book with other people and discuss it week to week then there is an avenue for that called Theology Pub. We meet at Brickhouse Bar and Grill every Monday at 7:30pm. We'd love for you to join us.

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Saint of Soldiers


Today, in the United States, it is Veteran's Day. It is a day which honors the men and women who have been faithful participants in the military of the nation. Interestingly (though probably not coincidentally), this day on the Church calendar is one that also remembers and honors a military participant. 

Today is the day of St. Martin of Tours.

Born a pagan (in what is now Hungary) only a few years after the conversion of Emperor Constantine, he was the son of a military veteran who had been a senior officer in the Roman military. Martin was named after Mars, the god of war. At the age of 15 he became a soldier to be thrown into the "holy wars" of the empire, following in his father's footsteps. 

On a rigid cold day, Martin was at the city gates of Amiens (modern-day France) and saw a beggar shivering. Since he was on duty he was only girded with his weapons and military garb. As his heart was overwhelmed with compassion for the beggar he cut his cape into two pieces with his sword and wrapped the garment around the beggar to warm him up. The people laughed at the soldier for his now distasteful appearance (can you imagine walking around with half a cape) while others felt shame for their lack of desire to help the poor man.

Later that night, while sleeping,  Martin saw Jesus wrapped in the cape he had given to the beggar. The Saviour said to the soldier, "Martin, still a catechumen, has covered me with his garment." When Martin turned 18 he was baptized as a Christian and began to live more like a monk than a soldier despite continuing at his military post. 

At the age of 23 he refused a war bonus and told his commanding officer, "I have served you as a soldier; now let me serve Christ. Give the bounty to those who are going to fight. But I am a soldier of Christ and it is not lawful for me to fight." In this protest Martin echoed the early church father Tertullian who stated, "The Lord, in disarming Peter, subsequently unbelted every soldier." Shortly after this, but not without difficulties, Martin of Tours was discharged from his military position.

St. Martin of Tours is often referred to as the first conscientious objector to war. It's interesting that he was a soldier before his objection to such activity. For Martin, part of his conversion consisted of laying down his arms and pursuing Christ's kingdom (over Constantine's) by loving the poor and healing the sick. He always viewed himself a soldier but there came a time when he enlisted in the military of Christ his King and that conflicted with his allegiance to Constantine and his activity in the Roman military. 

What I love about this saint is that he lives out the prophecy we see in Isaiah 2:4 which states, "...they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Joel 3:9-10 has similar words which apply beautifully to this saint when it is written, "Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, 'I am a warrior.'"

Martin, always a warrior, beat his sword into a plowshare and spear into a pruning hook by ripping his uniform into a blanket for the suffering beggar. He took what was meant to show status for the warrior and made it a warm cloth for the low in status and weak. The event is poetic to say the least. 

After he left the military the soldier for Christ became an exorcist and a true monk in Milan and later on a small island. He established the first French monastery. A decade later he traveled to Tours to heal a sick man and became the bishop of the people there. Along with Ambrose, Martin stood against the killing of heretics and against the Emperor having a say in similar Church matters. He did his best to work with those he disagreed with, even on matters as large as killing heretics. He saw the gray in life.

At the end of his life, prior to passing away, he prayed "Lord, if your people still need me, I do not refuse the work. Your will be done." Like Paul, he wanted to serve others before being with Christ. He always followed the orders of his Commander-in-Chief Jesus. May we all be able to pray such wonderful words and take care of the poor and hurting around us. May we see ourselves as enlisted in the military of the Kingdom of God, serving others in humble love as our act of war against evil.