Practical Christianity on the Field

"There can be no true prayer and public worship without the outward exercise of justice." (Ruth Tucker)

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8, ESV)

When we commit to be on mission with God - whether in our hometowns, across the country, or around the world - we can be sure that He will open our eyes to things we wouldn't see otherwise. As we walk with Him we will find that we are in places where we see wrongs being committed, where we recognize systemic problems, where we see root causes rather than mere symptoms.

And we will wonder what, if anything, we are to do about it. We'll have to balance the long-term spiritual view with the immediate need of the moment. We'll have to walk the fine line between evangelism and social justice, between theology and practice. If there's one thing that can be certain when we commit to a life of kingdom significance, it's that God will call us on it "where the rubber meets the road."

This isn't a new idea. Paul addresses both theological and practical issues in his epistles. Peter lays down a hard theology of doing good in the midst of suffering. And James - he is probably the most radical of all, giving us a picture of "hands-on" Christianity in action.

I've met some interesting individuals on my journey through World Christian Foundations, but one that has impacted me more significantly than many is Bartholomew de las Casas. de Las Casas was a Dominican priest in Mexico during the 16th century. In an age when the enslavement of the natives was not only status quo but thought justifiable, he dared to rock the boat. He was counter-cultural, seeking to make a difference in his corner of the world. And he did. He fought hard for reforms which, while not ending slavery, made life much easier for the Native Americans. His advocacy laid the foundation for new laws that ultimately changed the system. And he found a balance between humanitarianism and evangelism, boldly proclaiming the cause of Christ even while making a difference in the here and now.

A dear friend works for an agency that seeks "to offer temporal help and eternal hope." de Las Casas did just that, seeking justice out of authentic love for the people he wanted to see embrace the Gospel. We'll have the opportunity to do the same thing.

There will always be reasons not to act. The Gospel should provide us with a powerful reason to act! Down through the ages, there have always been those who heeded the call to social justice as part of a Christian lifestyle, even as part of evangelism, as part of a missionary task. The early church rescued babies from the wilderness where they were left to die. The church stayed behind to help the sick as the Roman Empire was ravaged by disease. The Calvinists tried to adopt a model of earthly justice in Switzerland. The pietists emphasized the need to take faith to the world with both words and deeds. 19th century American missionaries went on the Trail of Tears with the Indians. More recently pastors risked their pulpits to march for equal rights for blacks in the US. Even while typing this lesson, I received an email about a horrific infanticide occuring on the Amazon. Missionaries are taking the initiative to make a difference. Websites have been created to assist (http://www.hakani.org/en/ http://www.lirs.org/DonateServe/advocate.htm). But the bottom line for me is that while I was writing a lesson on justice as part of practical Christianity, God called me on it!

While missionaries, like other believers, have not perfectly represented the Gospel they carried, in general they have actually been stabilizing, mitigating factors against the negative cultural practices of their days. In doing so, they haven't practiced anything the rest of us shouldn't also be doing. Whether in our culture or across the world, if believers with a Biblical worldview can't stand up for the weak and downtrodden, for the injustices of society, then who will? If Jesus was moved by compassion to feed the 5000, then surely we know He cares about temporal needs.

And so should we, in very practical ways.

Change Agents

A study of history from a Godward perspective yields insights - and encouragement - about the process of change. Only a few weeks ago, my studies covered the "barbarian" tribes of England and Northern Europe; now I'm seeing how out of those same areas came the philosophical and theological insights that captured the minds of the Reformers. Somehow, a major leap forward was made in that few hundred years.

Significant changes were made within the context of the Reformation as well. With my Protestant background, I was unfamiliar with the "Counter-Reformation" and even less familiar with the "Catholic Reformation". Basically, the Catholic Reformation was an internal movement that actually started prior to the Protestant Reformation. It was a time of missionary focus and re-evaluation of theologies. The Counter-Reformation was a response to some of the issues raised by the Protestant Reformation and in some ways made the Catholic Church more closed, more "Catholic" and less inclusive. The Catholic Reformation remained an impact, however, through monastic movements that carried the Gospel message while Protestantism was still developing.

These two different movements, combined with the English Reformation and the Protestant Reformation with its Calvinist, Lutheran, and Radical wings, illustrate that the 16th century brought a burst of vitality to Christianity. This revival or renewal movement certainly didn't look the same within all of the groups. And that's one of the principles that we see in studying historical renewal movements: They take different streams and bring about both theological improvements and theological divergencies. Like Jonathan Edwards in Religious Affections, we must be aware that the presence of vitality will result sometimes in excesses, sometimes in imbalance, sometimes in over-reactions that reject the movement. As with the 16th Century Reformations, those groups that maintain a closer affiliation to Scripture will emerge with sounder (not perfect!) theologies and ultimately a longer-lasting vitality.

Each of the Reformations had one or more "change agents" who were catalysts, but the movements touched a deeper level than those individuals' ideas. Change also came gradually; even where radical change occurred within the Protestant Reformation, the fleshing out of that change was a gradual process -- one reason that Protestant Missions didn't really take off for 200 years after the Reformation. This can be encouraging as we work with people groups, ministries, or churches that are striving for change. We may see miniscule advances daily, but a look back at the history (last year, 5 years ago, etc.) will probably yield a better perspective of how that change is progressing. Changing policies is relatively easy; changing hearts and minds takes a while.

We also can see through this that today's decisions will have a long-term effect. The religious and political manueverings in Western Europe after the Reformation had results that reverberated through history. (For example, France's King Henry's political "conversion" to Catholicism and recognition of the Protestant Huguenots saved France as a country at the time - and laid the groundwork for it strengthening to the point that the French Revolution eventually resulted.) What decision today will have such a future impact? And like the pagan Europeans, what changes are in the works for your people group or that you serve?

The Gospel is truly like the yeast that works its way in over time. And there is an enemy who also tries to infiltrate and destroy the process. Societies change over time. Our role as change agents is to pray for God to keep our society nudging in the right direction!