Expect trouble – cause trouble, but be a lighthouse!

It seems that there is no end in sight for the current amplified political discord in the USA. Just when one hoped the volume could not get much higher, accusations of ‘wire tapping’ came trumpeting over Twitter. And even in the 140 characters allowed in a tweet, the attack was seemingly against character and not just about actions.

In the UK, controversy over Britexit (is there really such a word?) rumbles on. The future of Europe, without Britain, seems unclear with a wide range of options being floated by Jean-Claud Junckers in a speech at the beginning of March.

So whether you live in the US, the UK or Europe there is a level of turmoil at the start of 2017 which probably could not have been predicted in early 2016. What then, could be (or maybe should be) the principles that influence your

response and mine, as followers of Jesus, to events such as these and the wider environment in which we live?

On 25^th Jan I posted a link, on Facebook, to a blog by Dr Peter Enns ‘Is it OK for christians to protest against their political leaders?’¹ A good friend commented that Dr Enns did not quote Romans 13 ‘ Every person must be subject to the ruling authorities. There is no authority, you see, except from God, and those that exist have been put in place by God. As a result, anyone who rebels against authority is resisting what God has set up…’² my friend asked for my thoughts on those verses.

From my point of view Tom Wright’s translation of Romans 13 is helpful because it avoids the impression that ‘resisting government action is resisting God’s will’ If that were the case then, for example, the ‘reform’, so called, of the NHS in the UK would be God’s will. Many of my friends would have extreme difficulty with that proposition.

The verses I have quoted from the beginning of Romans 13 are not an isolated thought from the apostle. They follow immediately after Paul has talked about overcoming evil with good. He has also encouraged the church in Rome to “rejoice in hope, persevere in tribulation, bless those who persecute you and curse not…” and then “never pay back evil for evil to anyone…”

Yes, it is true that human beings need ‘order’ for community to function, without structure to provide a framework within which we relate to one another the world would be chaotic.. The verses tell us that God created structure. But it is also true that not all structures God created remain committed to His purposes. The bible is clear that some of the structures God created are themselves in rebellion against him.³ What is true however is that God can and does use what happens in the world to bring good, when his followers allow him to by the way they respond to the circumstances they find themselves in.⁴

What difference does it make being a disciple of Jesus?

Jesus 12 disciples probable could not have been a more mixed bunch; for example, at least four were fishermen, one was likely to have been of royal blood, two were, nationalists and almost certainly on the ‘terror watch list’ of the day and yet another was a tax collector/collaborator with the occupying power. In spite of their mixed backgrounds they were able live, learn and eventually lead the early church together. Character development and formation had taken place. They learned that being a disciple was not just assent to a set of beliefs it was living like their master with his help and strength.

Challenging authority

Jesus was clearly not averse to speaking out, challenging the authorities, even to the point of turning over the money tables in the temple but it was not for his own benefit, it was to enable others to have access to God.

As believers we are warned that, in this world we will have trouble.⁵ Some of the disciples experienced this when, a short time after the crucifixion and resurrection, they were faced by rulers in Jerusalem who told them to stop preaching.⁶ Their response was to say ‘we must obey God rather than human beings’. So much then for obeying the authorities. They felt under compulsion to tell people that there was ‘Good News’ to be experienced. They wanted the people among whom they lived to understand that God’s life and power can be known and gives help to live today.

Several times a week, I receive emails asking me to sign a petition, to protest, to lobby my MP or fight for some sort of rights. Most of these emails are about causes I am happy to support and I respond positively to many of them. However a few of them concern me deeply. I had one such email a few days ago. It was asking me to support ‘gospel freedoms’ in the UK. However, after a simple web search, I found a newspaper article about the incident to which the email referred. Three street preachers had been arrested for public order offences; the email I had received portrayed this as an attack on the freedom to preach the gospel. However my reading of the accounts of the situation led me to think that the preachers had been both unwise and provocative. The picture presented seemed a long way from one that displayed the character of God revealed in Jesus. Even if what happened was ‘Christ like’, I am concerned about the concept of ‘Gospel rights’. Jesus after all laid aside his rights, Philippians ch 2 says ‘In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

The result for the Lord, of laying down his rights was death on the cross. I am not saying that I want persecution but I am saying that we need to reflect on what we demand and fight for.

Over many years christians in the UK have enjoyed many privileges and freedoms that I sense have been squandered. This, I believe, is because we have been concerned about ‘preaching the gospel’ without an equal commitment to ‘live the Gospel’. And, of course, if we are committed to living good news, it will affect both what we preach and how.

The late Dallas Willard wrote “The primary function of the church is not evangelism, but to be a place for the dwelling of God on the earth. This requires that people grow and receive God and occupy their place with God. That would have a natural effect of evangelism. What we want is not just evangelism that makes converts. We want disciples…and if you are intent on making disciples and keep on that track, evangelism will take care of itself.”⁷

I believe Dr Willard was correct, a community in which God feels comfortable and at peace will also be a community that is exhibiting his character. It will not be angry or accusing, it will be one where ordinary people feel welcome and find healing, just as they did when they encountered Jesus when he was alive on earth.

Whatever governments do, whether we feel we can obey or need to object, the test, we as believers need to apply to ourselves should be ‘is what I am about to do going to bring healing and reconciliation?’

The Apostle Paul, who wrote the letter to Rome also wrote to the church in Corinth and said “All this is from God,who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.⁸

As christians we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. In a time of division and accusation we should be generating ‘light’ and not ‘heat’ After all Jesus said “… let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”⁹