Present-tense Christianity

It seems to me that many contemporary Christians have a pretty casual attitude toward their religion. Christians acknowledge that a restored relationship to Jesus Christ solves one huge problem: what happens to me after I die? Well, the ‘right answer’ says, because of my trust in Christ’s death on the cross, I’ll go to heaven upon my demise. Whew… we dodged that bullet, now what’s for lunch? But, hold on for just a second… shouldn’t our relationship to God provide something now? What are the present-tense benefits of Christianity? Here’s at least a partial list and I invite you, dear reader, to add to what’s here.

While many in modern culture would reject this proposition, I believe the Bible provides the definition of and reason for right conduct. Acceptance of Christianity as a worldview component requires a reliance on the Bible as the standard of ethical conduct. The apostle Paul connects the knowledge of sin with the standards revealed in the Old Testament in Romans 7:7, saying: ‘…if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known sin.’ (ESV) Sin is the violation of God’s commandments, both positive and negative. So the Christian relies on the Bible (the Old Testament even) to know right from wrong. 

Closely related to the knowledge of right and wrong are guidelines for doing right toward God and other people. How should I deal with a difficult spouse (not mine) or recalcitrant children (well… sometimes mine)? In the abstract, the ‘greatest commandment’ tells me to love God above all else and to love my neighbor as I love myself (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37; and others). This principle becomes concretized (I like that word) through many examples, both positive and negative. What does it look like to love God, or to love other people? Love for God involves a reorientation toward His priorities: to think, believe and do what He wants. King David forms a great example of what NOT to do in his sin with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11): instead of love toward God and neighbor by honoring ethical and legal responsibilities, David committed both adultery and murder to make her his wife! So Christianity in the present tense not only defines what is right and wrong, but also demonstrates what proper love for others looks like (and doesn’t look like)! 

This present-tense of Christianity helps us understand right and wrong conduct toward God and man, providing both positive and negative examples, but it also provides a system of accountability and correction. No matter one’s social position, God is over all, observes all, and provides judgment for all. In family relationships, Scripture provides that children shall obey their parents, and that parents shall deal properly with their children. Members of the community submit to leadership, which in turn submits to God. One of the most interesting examples of God’s correction of human arrogance comes through the book of Daniel where king Nebuchadnezzar looks over his kingdom and revels in his achievements. Such revelry ignored God’s establishment of the monarchy as a means for the positive benefit of society. For his arrogance, Nebuchadnezzar was afflicted with boanthropy (yep, real word) a mental disorder in which the afflicted believes himself to be a bull and he lives accordingly (Daniel 4:29ff.). God humbled Nebuchadnezzar because he incorrectly exalted himself and forgot that God establishes human rule and authority. God is the ultimate authority who holds accountable those people who live outside normal channels of human justice. Submission to legal authority honors God, whether that submission is from the earthly king to the Heavenly, from adults to legal authority or from children to parents. At each level of status, God supervises and provides ultimate accountability for wrongdoing. 

What does Christianity provide for you in the present tense? I submit for your consideration that Christianity provides a framework for interpersonal relationships which defines right and wrong conduct (toward God and man), shows examples of both, and provides accountability for persons of every status. Ineffectiveness in this model comes not from the model, but from human weakness in its application. Sometimes our love for others is ‘tough love,’ which means that we have to call out wrong behavior, based on the standards of the Bible and ever mindful of our own human weakness. I’m sure that what’s written here only scratches the surface, so feel free to make your own suggestions. Let’s just start thinking of our relationship to Christ as something present not only in the future, but also here now to help us live and form a right society.

Paper(work).

Perhaps my greatest frustration with the new semester comes from the fact that I’m not done with last semester yet... I received an extension to finish my Calvin paper over the break, with a due date of March 1st. As of this writing, it’s coming together with two pages written so far.

My paper explores John Calvin’s view of material goods and how that does or does not solve the problem of political/economic corruption. The interesting answer to the question is Calvin’s own perspective on human nature and the problem of corruption. We’re wrecked by sin. Man, apart from God is completely, utterly, fantastically unable to effect anything good. Even the appearance of good in the unbeliever is only a relative good enabled by the grace of God.

Solving the problem of sin begins with the initiative of God. If you’re not familiar with Calvinism, God in His infinite mercy chose some individuals from the wreckage of humanity and chose them to salvation. Those who are chosen hear and believe the message of Christ and become Christians who then follow God through their entire lives and ultimately live blissfully in heaven with Him. It’s not my purpose in this post to discuss the process of salvation, but to understand the life of a Christian as it relates to solving political/economic corruption. It’s a nuts-and-bolts kind of a question that I am trying to answer. What process can we effect to solve self-interest that exceeds its proper bounds to become corruption?

Calvin’s answer is interesting: his explicit solution is that individual persons must devote themselves fully to the person of God. A person should view him/herself as the very possession of God. I am not my own, I belong to Another. I like that solution, but what the heck does that actually look like? When I am confronted by temptation to sin I should… what? Remember that I am not my own… Calvin actually does go farther in the way he influenced the church and I think this first, internal attitude is pointless without the second part. I am not my own and I am accountable for my actions. And not only that touchy-feely accountable to the Jesus-who-loves-me kind of garbage (French accent) that passes for Christian accountability but also the kind of accountability where you have to actually confess your wrongs to the people whom you have sinned against. Maybe even work to make things right (shock).

This dual principle of ownership (I am not my own) and accountability form twin principles of the human relation to wrongdoing that pertain to all of society. When you sin against your marriage partner, you aren’t hiding anything from God and you need to handle it. The same is true for sins against your friends, your family, your church and your country. You are not your own and you will be held to account.