Fading Rainbows
‘In the world but, not of the world.’ This is a political statement. It is not from scripture, though it could almost be iterated as if it was. Some scriptures come close, like ones in the Gospel of John or Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome. Nevertheless, I have heard these words repeated ad nauseam from the pulpit over the years. They are felt words because there’s stress to them in that there’s a dividing line splitting between them and people are broadly defined by them.
I don’t think it’s so simple. Christians seem to perpetually want to define themselves, decipher division (ie. the winning and losing teams). There’s competition and an aura of superiority attached to this attitude, not humility. I am finding that indeed, regardless of religion we are ‘all’ in the world and we are ‘all’ of the world. Perhaps, it can be said that some of us choose better than others. That, if a choice was to made costing an individual harm over the same potential harm to another, would the one who chooses better sacrifice themselves over their neighbour being harmed. But, to what degree and to what end?
I love this world. Yes, there are some ugly things about it. Some ugly things about it have deeply affected me and to be honest, I have added to its ugliness at times too. Unfortunately, the statement ‘In the world but, not of the world’ gives this beautiful place that Christians affirm as having been made by God, who considered it ‘good’, an entirely bad rap.
James Davison Hunter is the Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia and author of ‘To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World’.In his ‘academic book’ that ‘is sociological theory, sociological analysis, historical investigation, Bible study, and theological consideration all wrapped up into one’ [1] Hunter‘argues that Christians in the U.S. have a fundamentally flawed understanding of what culture is and how cultures change’ [2]. Hunter makes it resoundingly clear from the outset the reason for his work, ‘to consider the ways in which Christians in much of their diversity actually think about the creation mandate today, examining the implicit theory and explicit practices that operate within this complex and often conflicted religious and cultural movement’ [3]. The struggle at the interface and the seeping over (back-and-forth between) of Christianity with popular socio-cultural dynamics, political forces and economic systems that push-and-pull are the focus of the three movements or essays of his book. James Davison Hunter writes for the Christian-religious of all walks of life in the U.S., in view of the materialistic and secular aspects of culture that have infiltrated every part of life and caused widespread compromise and corruption, with the question ‘Why are religious people not changing our culture?’ [2]
Miroslav Volf, in his book Against the Tide: Love in a Time of Petty Dreams and Persisting Enmities, writes ‘Part of the problem is that in a market society, faith has a difficult time escaping the logic of the marketplace’ [4]. Volf seems to be concerned about the religio-consumeristic trend that sells-outand buys-in‘when the need for it is felt and placed in storage or discarded when not’ [4]. He describes the problem as ‘not merely that faith is “bought and sold” as a consumer good (the so-called commodification of religion), but that the smorgasbord culture exerts pressure on people to employ faith to satisfy their discrete and changing wants rather than be the shaper of life as a whole’ [4].
Hunter reveals the problem of idealism in a subtle, like-manner that ‘it communicates the message that if people just pay attention, learn better, be more consistent, they will understand better the challenges in our world today; if they have the right values, believe the right things, embrace the right worldview, they will be better equipped to engage those challenges; and if they have the courage to actually jump in the fray and there choose more wisely and act more decisively, they will rise to and overcome those challenges and change the world’ [3]. This popular idealism Hunter observes as somewhat identical to the dualism that it vies to conquer in its religious counterpart (as if morality and choosing well is a competition of original sources).
Our Christian leadership today is (obviously) secular by acumen, though sounding spiritual it is popular and geared for consumerism. Hunter describes the leader in late antiquity, ‘the monk, and a new social institution—the monastery’ [3] and, he goes on to portray monks as ‘holy men, highly respected by the masses’ [3]. Their spiritual status was a direct challenge to paideia (the popular culture of society) and the power structure it served. Did such a position and posture as the monk depict an option, being ‘in the world yet, not of the world’? Could such a subversive representation convey (or, transmit) hope for liberation? Still, such examples of hope are needed who represent an anticipation for freedom, outside of a system that enslaves without conscience all-inclusively, both the wary and ignorant.
One review, shared by Greg Gilbert (Pastor of Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky), refers to Hunter’s work with gratitude for his theological sensitivity understanding ‘that the establishment of the kingdom of God is a work that God and God alone performs, a biblical truth that prevents a boatload of error from creeping into our theology’ [1]. I find it disturbing the selfish pursuit to control the outcome of God’s Kingdom; then, we are either operating out of disbelief or by ulterior motives. The outcome is ours, not God’s. No different to any other individualistic movement of accumulation and capitalism. ‘Instead of understanding its task as being the building of God’s kingdom or the changing of the culture, Hunter says, the church should understand its charge in the world to be one of “faithful presence within”’ [1].
Gilbert appreciates the humility of Hunter in his approach to the Irony he describes that ‘the point is not to change the world, but to bear witness to the world in word and deed that a better world is coming’ [1].
Tom Oshiro, Gipp Forster, Jean Vanier, Henri Nouwen: two heroes of the faith who are closely known to me and two who are known famously to the world. All were witnesses ‘to the world in word and deed that a better world is coming.’ Each one of these men were in the world, demonstrated the undeniable hope we have in Christ and with the most genuine articulation expressed ‘that a better world is coming.’ Each of these men were in the world and they were of the world, they were real people.
Hunter wrote of Wilberforce as being a man who believed that people can change as a result of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and that he was ‘a great man and a model of what one courageous person willing to step into the fray can do’ [3]. God used William Wilberforce to change things. As the scriptures remind us, ‘all things are possible with God.’ Today, breaking news spread with ferocity and deeply troubling words were written about Jean Vanier and quickly, opinions of him across cultures and throughout the world, could be observed as changing. This stopped me for hours today and I was saddened that once again we have been mistaken. We are setting ourselves up for failure as lines are drawn to make some out to be as ‘of the world’ and some as ‘of God’; it is written, ‘we all fall short’. I looked out of the window from where I lay in a depression and saw a rainbow across the lake on one side of the mountain beginning to fade away. It left with a sigh and, a thought came over me like mist; ‘grace’.
Bibliography
[1] Gilbert, Greg. Book Review: To Change the World, by James Davison Hunter.9 Marks. https://www.9marks.org/review/change-world/.
[2] Friesen, Duane K. A review of To Change the World. The Christian Century. Last Updated: August 29, 2010. https://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2010-08/review-change-world
[3] Hunter, James Davison. To Change the World. Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.
[4] Volf, Miroslav. Against the Tide: Love in a Time of Petty Dreams and Persisting Enmities. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2010.
About the Author
Chris Pollock
Dad of Molly Polly Pastor at the Mustard Seed Street Church Trail Runner2 responses to “Fading Rainbows”
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Thanks for this post, Chris. Really thoughtful stuff that parallels much of what I’ve been wrestling with lately. There are days when I’m tempted to take my camper to a piece of land in the middle of nowhere and just forget the world exists. We want for the Christian life to be a life that looks different (transcends) the chaos of the world, but how often do we forget Paul’s plea for us to “stop conforming” to its patterns? In the end, I don’t think the world is the problem (or the solution,) but faithful Christians who keep bearing witness and shining light in the darkness.
Nice addition quoting Volf. Because of his time in a fractured Eastern Europe, I think he is uniquely poised to be a poignant for the West, especially in race relations.