Covenant Presbyterian Church

I often fear that a great deal of our talk about improving the world is really an excuse to avoid improving ourselves. It is much easier to find fault in others and entertain grand delusions about the way we would do things if we were in charge than it is to face the hard truth about our own lives, families, and congregations. Certainly there is much fault to be found in the world, especially if we believe there is a standard of truth to which all are accountable. Yet, we often suffer from a willingness to bludgeon others with the truth while remaining quite averse to touching ourselves with its lightest stroke.

I am not recommending rejection of our discipleship duties, the dominion mandate, or letting our light shine before men. I am certainly not advocating retreat within oneself or family or any sort of mystical, pietistic, or perfectionist individualism that makes an idol of personal piety. Too much inwardness generally leads either to self-satisfaction or depression - both produce paralysis and pride. I am suggesting that the world, or perhaps I should just start with my neighborhood since it is the part of the world closest to me, will never be better until I am better. I am, after all, a part of the world - not of it, hopefully, but certainly in it. I make a daily contribution, however small, to the condition of the world. In our most honest moments, we recognize that we are not nearly as good as we would wish and certainly not as good as our profession of faith would warrant. Such honesty should give us a little more realism and a little less hubris about being "world changers." It is difficult to make the world a better place in the same way it is difficult for me to be a better person. Both changes require the introduction of a power wholly beyond me.

By making the world a better place, I am not simply referring to general morality, personal habits, and decorum, but perhaps we should give at least a passing thought to these. Most self-conscious Christians, I think, suffer from the homerun mentality. No real gains are made for Christ and his kingdom unless total victory is achieved, the bad guys cry "uncle" all at once, and a Puritan regime (or Confederate, or Southern Presbyterian, or Scottish, or Psalm-Singing, or Theonomic - you choose) is instituted by judicial fiat. In case you are suffering under this grand delusion, let me deliver you - it will never happen. The so-called "Golden Ages" of the past suffered from their dross, as those who lived in them painfully confessed, and will never return to us in their specific historical garb. The "golden ages" ahead will not be clothed in the apparel of the past but with the splendor of new garments befitting new and mightier works of Jesus Christ than we have yet experienced.

Until and as such times unfold in our Father’s good providence, I will rejoice in hitting a single. Acting like a human being would be a good place to start. I will rejoice in Christians, especially Reformed Christians, who treat their fellow-Christians with dignity and respect, do not remember a wrong suffered, and humbly recognize that their much-vaunted theological acumen does not entitle them to break promises, treat others contemptibly, or act as if they have all the answers. Myself included. How refreshing it would be to find Christians who listen more than they talk, do not consider a conversation good because they have had the last or best word, and never miss an opportunity to stop gossip in its tracks. I will accept Christian young people who do not live like slobs, almost living proofs that we are descended from lower life forms. I will accept Christians who recognize their limitations and liabilities, gladly put others ahead of themselves, and are unwilling to take up a grudge against humanity any time their personal grand delusion is shattered by confrontation and the call to accountability. Those who would change the world must first be changed themselves. There is no other way, and any talk about "dominion" and "law" and "restoring the republic" is just plain silly until we are first subdued to teachableness, at least a little, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is admittedly difficult to bring these two aspects together, the need for personal change and the duty to challenge sin in the world. One common answer to this dilemma is to do nothing. It is hypocrisy and arrogance to challenge the sins of others without challenging the sins in oneself. The fear of hypocrisy has led many to accept a standard of universal tolerance, i.e., moral cowardice and indifference. Since no one is perfect, no one has the moral authority to make judgments. On the other side of the issue, if we avoid making necessary judgments because we are aware of much that is wrong in our own lives, then we are abdicating our discipleship duties. Given these difficult options, an increasing number of professing Christians concludes that we should not make any judgments of others. Many find this teaching in our Savior’s words in Matthew 7. This is an obvious misuse of Jesus’ prohibition of judgment-making, such a gross misuse that it would not require comment unless it had become the standard interpretation of his words. You will see that Jesus actually calls for both: self- and others-judgment. He warns against hypocrisy so that we will remove the "specks" from our own lives in order that we may see clearly to remove the "beam" from our brother’s life. Jesus thus exposes the grand delusions of moral indifference - refusing to challenge the sins of others - and moral arrogance - challenging the sins of others without dealing with the changes we need to make in our own lives.

I suggest that this dilemma is resolved largely through having the appropriate attitude with respect to confrontation, judgment, and changing the world. As Christians, we are called to "let our light shine" (Matt. 5:16), to expose the deeds of darkness and reprove them (Eph. 5:11), and instruct those who oppose the truth (2 Tim. 2:25). Such efforts are never given from a perspective of perfection but from grace. That is, we do not purport to have reached the consummated state but to have experienced God’s transforming grace through Jesus Christ. Hence, when we confront sin, it must be in order to lead men to the grace of God. When we let our light shine, it is the light of humble thankfulness to God for his mercy and love. When we instruct those who oppose the truth, our goal is not to win an argument but to be faithful to God and proclaim the truth with humble confidence that this is the means he uses to bring men to the truth. We must be broken sinners before the watching eyes of the world. Our lives must manifest the humility of our Savior; our boast is in his cross alone. This is at once the shocking truth and elevating power of the gospel. We are nothing; Christ is everything. And this truth must be wielded first and constantly in our own lives. This gives us a tone of meekness, a message of hope, and a life of power. If we do this, we are not living as hypocrites who are trying to change the world without changing ourselves first. We are living as Christ’s humble disciples who are being transformed by the power of light and grace and thus used of God to call others into the light - by words of truth and deeds of kindness - and by understanding the plight of the world and feeling it every day in the depths of our soul.

The world will be and is being changed. Our glorious Captain has made the form of the world obsolete; it is passing away (1 Cor. 7:31). This definitive passing also leads to the passing away of certain things in our lives- the old man of sin, love for the world, and priorities and appetites shaped by the world. The new man must be continually dawning in our lives, and he is defined and determined by the transforming power of God’s grace. We seek to change the world only as men and women who are in the process of being changed. This must inform our attitude toward the world. We do not approach the world from a stance of perfection, either in understanding or in practice, but from a stance of humble suppliants for divine grace. From this stance, we can love our enemies in recognition that were it not for God’s super-abounding grace, we would yet be his enemies. We also have an attitude of hope. The "world" in its darkness, despair, and delusion is not the final phase of history; the kingdom of Christ is. It is growing; the light is spreading. Do your part by rejecting the grand delusion of a self-satisfied, morbidly introspective, and arrogant perfectionism. Move into your neighborhoods - do not just live there. Move into the world - do not just condemn it. Engage men with the confidence of truth, the hope of grace, and the evidence of a transformed and being transformed life.