Monday, February 21, 2005
Christian Effects
Next Reformation has a recent post entitled "Paul and the empire," that is interesting reading. (HT: SmartChristian)
God's intention is to save and change the world, it's in the how that we run into problems. As Christians, we are not to sit idly by while the world spins around us in orbits increasingly distant from God. But by the same token, we worship a Savior that came humbly and sacrificially. God's chosen method of salvation was most decidedly not political revolution. He could have given the Jews the means by which to conquer the world. Jesus could easily have fomented revolution against the Romans. But instead, Jesus chose to die and be resurrected.
God chose to save the world by saving us. Our salvation will affect everything, but we must be wise and judicious in when, why, and how.
...faith in the risen Christ was not simply an individual, private decision that only affected his or her choice of activities on Sunday morning or Wednesday night. This decision had massive social, religious, and political implications.So true, so true. But Next Reformation continues, quoting Richard Horsely,
"His missionary work…must be conceived not simply in terms of a traveling evangelist offering people a new religious experience, but of an ambassador for a king-in-waiting, establishing cells of people loyal to this new king, and ordering their lives according to his story, his symbols, and his praxis, and their minds according to his truth. This could only be construed as deeply counter-imperial, as subversive to the whole edifice of the Roman Empire; and there is in fact plenty of evidence that Paul intended it to be so construed, and that when he ended up in prison as a result of his work he took it as a sign that he had been doing his job properly.”That faith in Christ must, of necessity have implications on every aspect of our lives and how we conduct them is not debatable, but that it is directly politically subversive is. For every statement of Paul that seems politically subversive, there are other statements that support the social order, even in seeming contradiction to Christian morality, for example Paul's admonishment to slaves and masters. (Eph 6:5-9)
God's intention is to save and change the world, it's in the how that we run into problems. As Christians, we are not to sit idly by while the world spins around us in orbits increasingly distant from God. But by the same token, we worship a Savior that came humbly and sacrificially. God's chosen method of salvation was most decidedly not political revolution. He could have given the Jews the means by which to conquer the world. Jesus could easily have fomented revolution against the Romans. But instead, Jesus chose to die and be resurrected.
God chose to save the world by saving us. Our salvation will affect everything, but we must be wise and judicious in when, why, and how.
