Written by: gfesadmin on March 14, 2013

Is it possible to change the world? Are we called to do that? What kind of change do we desire? These are great questions that emerge for Christians who want to engage in ministry. My favorite book so far the year is the book To Change the World by James Davidson Hunter. He addresses the complexity of these questions, the traditional answers and why they come up short.

One popular thought is that ideas have consequences. Which is true to a certain extent. But ideas are embedded in a culture, so sometimes they have consequences. Would Steve Jobs ideas work in a medieval England? Would the emerging church emerge in communist China? Ideas work in a specific place, by gifted people whose time has come.

Another is that change happens when our worldview shifts. Here too Hunter shows that worldviews matter, but not as much as we think. We all have a perspective that affects our actions. But worldviews are much larger than we realize. Can any of us step out of our culture enough to completely see how it is? We are like a fish in water, swimming in it but unaware of it. We “swim” in a cultural worldview, but are not always aware of all that affects us or has affected us. So when we rail against it, we do so from a limited viewpoint.

What should we do to interact with the culture as a Christian? One way is to fight the secular values that have crept into mainstream culture. A sense of loss motivates this group. There is fear and anger about the loss of Christian values in the public arena.

This is what Hunter calls the “defense against” paradigm that Fundamentism shares. This is a reaction to the perceived assault of the secular culture. (I commented on this in a past blog. See this report from the last U.S. election for the results of this;

http://publicreligion.org/research/2012/11/american-values-post-election-survey-2012/)

Secondly, Christian churches have immersed themselves in the culture in the hopes of identifying with it. This has been shared by theological liberalism. More recently, seeker sensitive and the emerging church have embraced this view. This is a “relevance to” outlook to the culture. The problem for this is loss of clarity in the secular culture. If we adhere too closely to it, where is our distinct witness? (Liberal churches are declining the fastest).

Lastly, is to withdraw from the world. This “purity from” response to the secularization of society is meant to keep Christians separate from the world. We are not to share its values. This view is that there is little to be done to make change happen. The best response is to withdraw and not engage with the larger world. (Have you seen The Village?).

All these view are partially correct in their solutions, but fall short.

How can we best engage the culture we live in? Hunter calls us to be “Faithfully Present”. This is to be immersed in our cities lives and offer our distinct message and lifestyle by being relationally present to the people in our neighborhoods. Our power is not coercive, and certainly we no longer have positional power. But Hunter suggests that we do have social or relational power. Ordinary everyday social relationships are our means to be fully and faithfully present. Our role in those relationships is to help form disciples of Jesus. In order to do that we have to be willing to live in the tension of affirming what is good in the culture and where we live in contrast to it. (See pp. 226-227)

For two years I have led a small local church. Here are my suggestions for being faithfully present, as I have learned them in our community. We do not do all that is mentioned here, but we work together with other churches to move us to do so.

1. Vision. See the people all around us as people, not projects. No one wants to be our project. We see the poor and powerless, we know the people in businesses and what they struggle with. We are acquainted with those in the government and do our best to hear their voices. We are involved with serving our local schools. To see is more than observation. It is to know the influences and influencers and be in dialogue with them.

2. Compassion. Secondly, is to be moved to compassion. Jesus saw the crowd and was moved with compassion for they were aimless. He looked over Jerusalem and wept. Do we weep over the sins of the culture or just get angry and react? When we know the overwhelming struggles of the poor, those who have made foolish decisions, and know how the younger generation struggles with the church and with the uncertainly and ambiguity of a secular culture, our hearts can be broken for them.

3. Involvement. Compassion moves us to involvement. We find tangible ways to express the love of Christ in our city. Gospel witness is seen as we embed ourselves in our community. We serve the poor, we encourage the youth, we pray with business owners and policy makers, and we read with children in the schools.

4. Innovation. Then ask, “What are fresh expressions of the word that can be shown in the language of the people?”

Do you have fresh expressions on how to be faithfully present in the world?

James Davidson Hunter, To Change the World, New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

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