How God works in a sick and broken world

Matthew 5:13-16

    13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

   14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

We all see symptoms of a sick and broken world around us. Eighteen people pass by a toddler bleeding in the middle of the street. Evil people enslave young girls to make money and gratify the lusts of perverse men. And, just like in ancient Israel, the richand powerful “grind the faces of the poor” and “covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them” from the weak and vulnerable.

It’s no wonder that Paul says that all creation is groaning as though in the pains of childbirth. What is the solution? Why doesn’t God do anything?

Read what Jesus said to His followers in His Sermon on the Mount. “You are the salt of the earth,” He said. “You are the light of the world.” Jesus called his followers to preserve, flavor, and give light to a dark and decaying world.

The name Christian means “little Christ.” When we follow our Master, our 師父, we become part of His solution. Definitely, there is a heaven and hell where God will balance the scales. But we still have a job to do while we are here on earth. We are to be salt and light.

What good is it if salt loses its saltiness? What good his a lamp kept under a bowl? How can we be a solution for the world if we think and act the same as everyone else does? “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”

No, we are to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us. If someone who has power over you abuses that power, willingly submit to them. God makes the rain fall on the righteous and unrighteous both because He cares for them. He wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

Why is it that so many who are not believers reject God? Isn’t it because His followers are no better—in some cases, worse—than these unbelievers? If salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?

God wants us to be perfect, just as He is perfect. In this way, His light will shine through us before men, just as a lamp gives light to everyone in a house. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Advocating a "Christian position" for social good

Recognizing the need to maintain their unique role in society and the limitations of earthly governments to change hearts, Christians still have compelling reasons to advocate political causes. Unlike the Israelites in the Old Testament or Christians in past centuries, many Christians today live in secular democracies where they have the privilege of electing representatives in government. For example, citizens of the United States aspire to have a government that is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” As such, every citizen has a civic responsibility to educate themselves, engage in public discourse, and to vote according to their best judgment. On this basis, Christians advocate a “Christian position” for the social good. Although many secular critics may accuse Christians of wanting to impose theocracy, or religious government, most politically active Christians do not advocate the enforcement of religious legal code—there is no Christian equivalent for Muslim Sharia law. Rather, they advocate policies and platforms that they believe are just and right based on God’s standard of justice and righteousness depicted in the Bible.

Not only Christians but all people who vote in a representative democracy do so according to their conscience, or what they think is just and moral. Whether they acknowledge it or not, all voters decide issues based on moral beliefs or principles. That able-bodied people should work to earn the food they eat, for example, is a moral belief that may influence how a citizen votes. Every political philosophy is predicated on some fundamental moral principles. For some, legal precedent lends moral legitimacy to their position. The fathers of the American Revolution saw the Magna Carta in 1215 A.D. as the forerunner of the Constitution of the United States, for example. For Karl Marx, history legitimized his moral positions. In his Communist Manifesto, Marx pointed to a long and repeated history of class antagonism as the justification for communist revolution. The Communist regime currently in power in China increasingly relies on the pragmatism and moral tenets of Confucianism to justify its undemocratic rule, its Marxist idealism tempered by the failures of the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. The philosopher Ayn Rand claimed to have based her extremely individualistic, amoral brand of politics on reason alone, but even her reasoning led her to moral beliefs—namely, that selfishness is good and state coercion is evil.

What differentiates the Christian moralist from the non-religious moralist is that the former claims revelation from God through the Bible whereas the latter appeals to other authorities. For the Christian, the Bible reflects the character of God who is Himself the standard of justice and righteousness. The principles of justice and righteousness found in the Bible are not simply a “Judeo-Christian heritage” equal in status to other cultural heritages. They are not legal precedent, historical norms, or philosophy. Instead, these principles are collectively a divinely revealed standard of right and wrong. The Christians’ task is to search out God’s standard of justice in the Bible and to give it preference over political ideology, popular sentiment, and personal benefit. Certainly, both the Christian and non-religious voter naturally tend toward self-interested political positions. But for the Christian, God’s principles found in the Bible serve as a bulwark against greed and selfishness. Their attitude should be the same as the Psalmist, who wrote, “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.”[1] Ideally, the Christian voter can be counted on to vote and advocate for what is right according to God’s standard and not just for what benefits them personally.

[This post is an excerpt of my work-in-progress book on social justice in the Old Testament. Feedback is welcome! More on Learning to Do Right.] 

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[1] Psalm 119:36