Came across this quote a little while ago as I was doing some reading and continued prep work on my sermon series, "Why Bother with the Church?" It's by Howard A. Snyder from his book, "The Community of the King."
So the Church is not to be understood primarily as a means to the end of transforming society. This would be to trample over the uniqueness and infinite worth to God of the Christian community. Besides, the amazing and profound fact is that the Church most transforms society when it is itself growing and being perfected in the love of Christ. In fact, when the Church is taken merely as a means to transform society, very little is accomplished. For in that case the uniqueness of the Church is denied and we enter the battle on the same terms as secular and godless forces. We assume the battle for right and justice can be won by force, by technique, by doing. It can't. These very clearly are not the weapons of Christian warfare (Ephesians 6:10-20). Truly Christian transformation of culture comes through Christlike (and hence sacrificial) love, community and being.
But this fact by no means cancels out the responsibility to do, to act, to walk in the words of God. Rather, the being and the doing go together. The being is fundamental but the doing is the natural result.What do you think? Is the only real way to transform culture through Christlike love, community and being? And how do you think that would play itself out, how would it show itself in the life of the church and among Christians? And, as a church/Christian, are there other ways we can and should go about transforming culture? What if how one group of Christians (church) views how that transformation of culture differently than another group? What do we handle that?
Your thoughts, insights and experiences are welcome to be left in the comments.
