The Church In The Community: A Positive, Morally Driven, First And Last Line Of Service
The Church in the Community: a Positive, Morally Driven, First and Last Line of Service
The view of a biblically, faithful church in society is radically shifting before our eyes. Our universities are teaching that marriage is a misogynist, archaic institution; biblical morals that limit and direct human behavior are nothing more than “hate speech;” and that people should scoff at the notion of their lives being personally accountable to God. The modern mantra is to be “true to oneself.” Even one’s “identity” is now unchecked by science and undirected by God’s 10 Commandment’s morality. No, one isn’t “male or female;” one isn’t to be judged by the “content of one’s character.” No, one is merely to be at peace with oneself no matter the truths, moral and otherwise, to the contrary. It’s like the days recounted in the Book of Judges in the Old Testament, where “Everyone does what is right in their own eyes.” Worse today is the false charge, the caricature that the Church and her people are “not a blessing to the community,” but a nefarious voice that needs to be silenced if not vanquished from the public square.
It would be easy to slink away into irrelevance and just let the chaos overtake our culture, but the Church has a responsibility to proclaim the “whole counsel of God, His Law and His Gospel, His preserving and His saving work” (Acts 20:27). And sometimes there is a price to pay for being that positive, faith-filled, gracious, moral voice in the world that is sinful and broken (the false caricature, for example). But God’s people are fashioned by God to be His people in the midst of it all, as a preserving voice of God’s moral truths and as Gospel voice of God’s saving truth in the person and work of Jesus alone. I’ve seen with my eyes the power of a “salty” faith that blesses the neighborhood or the motivating power of faith that causes people to continue to serve others the way that Christ serves and loves us, despite enormous challenges to the contrary. But I’ve never been able to quantify what that means. The book The Other Philadelphia Story[1] demonstrates how churches throughout Philadelphia have made and continue to make a tremendous impact on the city in which they live. In fact, without the churches, the problems of the city would simply overwhelm the community and the government agencies that exist to help those in need.
As Christians who hold a two-kingdom perspective of how God is at work in the world to bless and to save, we know that for civility and humaneness to others, there are public efforts that need to be undergirded and supported just to keep evil at bay. Let us not shirk back from our efforts to be that preserving, moral voice of the Scriptures for the sake of the communities in which we live, all for the sake of offering God’s eternal Good News in Jesus for all as well. Let’s be God’s morally directed citizens who are His “positive first and last line of service,” demonstrating anew that the modern caricatures of the Church and her people are exactly that—false caricatures and unseemly demonizations.
Such preserving work in community, while not an eternally saving work, is nonetheless still a significant inroad into and support for our sharing the Gospel as well. When someone says that God’s people aren’t needed because there’s a government program for that, read this book and realize that when people of faith seek to bless the city in which they live, there is a unique motivation and call to excellence that no secular program can match. And, then, of course, let’s serve and see what happens. Fighting for the liberty to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed matters, because people matter. It’s always been that way, so don’t let anyone caricature the discussion otherwise.
Oh, and another thing. When people of the LCMS seek publicly to engage the city, one of the ways is through parochial education. In the United States, the early calls for “education for all” concerned the need to equip religiously, self-governing, disciplined people for citizenship. The unique constitutional freedoms of the United States couldn’t last without people capable of such an exercise. The whole discussion of parental choice today is a discussion of honoring the parent’s right to educate their children at the schools of their choosing for the sake of the culture as well as for the sake of their faith. Such opportunities would unleash the church back into the cities (where low tuitions often make parochial education opportunities a virtual impossibility). With the disarray of the family in our culture and in our cities, with urban public schools often rife with violence and poor quality academics, here’s another siren call to say, “Let’s give the churches a chance” to be a public blessing for the sake of the neighborhood. Even the numbers say that it’s worth it!
The Rev. Dr. Gregory Seltz is the executive director of the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty.
Be Informed
“Joseph Kennedy, a high school assistant football coach fired eight years ago for praying on the field with students, returned to his old position and will receive a $1.78 million settlement.” Read more about this landmark Supreme Court case here.
Be Equipped
Learn More About The Social And Political Consequences Of Same-Sex Marriage With Matthew Schmitz Of Compact Magazine.
Be Encouraged
“Even those of us who are temperamentally predisposed to defense must recognize that offense—laying siege to the institutions—is what is now demanded.”
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