Saturday, September 24, 2005
Not Acting Different, Being Different
Tod Bolsinger had a great post yesterday. He is talking about Christianity not prompting us to good acts, but that it is about transforming us.
I see the wisdom in this, but worry that it can be used as an arguement against politcal involvement for Christians. We sit here in the cusp of what it means to be in, but not of. We must live in the world, and we must function in it. In a democracy like America, that carries with it an obligation to participate to some level, in line with our gifts and proclivites, in the political process.
But it is an important reminder that the political process will not and cannot ultimately "fix" the world. Only the transformation that God brings to every soul can accomplish that.
When Jesus says to his disciples (with the crowds of uncommitted people listening in) "You are the salt of the earth - You are the light of the world" he is not saying that they "SHOULD BE" salt and light, but that they, in fact, ARE salt and light whether they want to acknowledge it or not. He is not exhorting them to live better, but instead reminding them that the way they live directly impacts the whole world.Tod's point is that we are God's agents for changing the entire world. What a great concept. God remakes us, and when we are all remade, the world too becomes remade.
In recognizing this little fact, we then see that the Sermon on the Mount is not moral exhortation at all, but instead a declaration that the difference that his calling makes on their lives is the difference God is making in the world.
I see the wisdom in this, but worry that it can be used as an arguement against politcal involvement for Christians. We sit here in the cusp of what it means to be in, but not of. We must live in the world, and we must function in it. In a democracy like America, that carries with it an obligation to participate to some level, in line with our gifts and proclivites, in the political process.
But it is an important reminder that the political process will not and cannot ultimately "fix" the world. Only the transformation that God brings to every soul can accomplish that.
