The Christian and the Social Order

Introduction

All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article XV

Jesus Christ is the crucified, buried, resurrected, ascended and returning King.

Christians are people who have trusted in Him for salvation...

...Who have been given His Spirit to dwell in them...

...And who live in this world representing Him.

HOW THEN SHOULD WE LIVE?

Article XV seeks to answer that question for the Southern Baptist.

Clearly the article has a lot to say about social issues.

Sins and vices that plague society

Clearly the article has plenty to say about social engagement.

The Christian’s role in the public square.

But I don’t think that Article XV is simply a call to be a culture warrior.

I think it has something BIGGER and BETTER to say than that.

I believe it gives us a full-bodied look at the Church’s relationship with the society that is around her.

Outline

Fill it in as we go this week

1. Christians should seek the Scriptures to know how transformation happens.

This is where we have to start.

When we talk about engaging with the culture, we can’t forget all the theology we believe from the Bible and that we confess in the other articles of our confession.

On one hand, we want to see our society transformed for the glory of Jesus Christ.

We believe that we “are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society.”

But we have to understand the way in which that happens.

There are all sorts of means and methods that people say we must undertake to change society:

You have to vote and change it at the polls

You have to run for office

You have to protest

You have to write to your representative

You have to put a bumper sticker on your car

You have to vote for a certain political party

You have to get behind a certain movement or slogan

But as Christians we don’t actually believe those things have the power to change society in and of themselves.

Listen to Article XV:

Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ.

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article XV

The Church is God’s Plan

Our Faith and Message is in line with the Scriptures.

The New Testament has one plan for changing the world:

Christ’s disciples going in His authority...

Making disciples of all nations...

Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit...

Teaching them to obey everything all of the commands of Christ.

And the vehicle for this work is the local church

We see that in principle and practice in the Scriptures:

Principle

1 Timothy 3:15 ESV

if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

A Pillar supports and displays what is placed upon it

The Church displays what the Scriptures teach—that is its job

It is not to add to with the traditions of man or take away from what God has said

We teach the Gospel of the Scriptures as faithfully as we can

The Greek word for buttress can also translate to foundation

1 Corinthians 3:11 says that Christ is the foundation of the Church

So here is the picture the New Testament gives us:

Christ holds up the Church

The Church holds up the truth and displays it to the world

And while this may be true of the Church at large, let us remember that this is not a letter written about the Church Universal.

This is written by an old pastor to a young pastor about how to pastor a LOCAL CHURCH

The local churches of the world are the PILLAR and BUTTRESS of truth in this age, until Christ returns

Practice

Acts 13:1–3 ESV

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

This is who makes disciples of all nations.

Not government

Not organizations

Not activist groups

Not non-profit coalitions

The Gospel

So then how does this work?

The local church is like an embassy in a foreign country, representing another Kingdom—the Kingdom of Christ

We go into the world as Christ’s ambassadors, with God making His appeal through us

2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

The appeal is the Gospel itself.

We preach that God is good.

We preach that man is lost.

We preach that Jesus, who died and rose, saves.

We preach repentance and faith.

This is the Gospel and THIS is the message with the POWER to save:

Romans 1:16 ESV

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

As this message is heard, God births faith in the hearts of hearers:

Romans 10:17 ESV

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

As people are born again, they are made new.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

And when people are made new—they actually change

God transforms them with His grace from the inside out

This is how TRUE change is effected in this world

ETERNAL change—not just temporary measures

Soul by soul.

Salvation and Salvation.

And where the Church’s message spreads, not only do hearts change, but we tend to see societies impacted.

We Do Not Navel-Gaze

Now—this does not mean that we are navel-gazing theologians who just sit in our ivory towers, tossing out Gospel tracts, not caring about the society we live in.

In fact, we will spend most of the rest of our time together talking about how we impact the world around us

But as we talk about these things, we have to keep these things we have learned in mind:

We have to remember what we have seen in the Scriptures:

The Church’s mission is to make disciples

Local churches preaching the Gospel and making disciples is God’s transformation plan as the world

If we start to think the church’s mission is to transform culture through political engagement, we will lose track of disciple-making

If we start to think the church's mission is to transform society through social programs and moral reforms, we will lose track of disciple-making

BUT if we keep the mission and purpose of the Church in mind...

...And we continue to trust in the power of the Gospel...

...AS we go into the world and live out Christianity as salt and light—we will be doing well.

2. Christians should seek to establish righteousness.

Purpose of Government

As Christians we don’t only understand the purpose of the church.

We understand the purpose of government

Romans 13:1–7 ESV

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Instituted by God

Therefore resisting government is a resisting of the authority God put in place

It is God’s servant to reward good and punish evil

It bears the sword against evil

An avenger of God’s wrath on the wrongdoer

And we should submit to it, pay our taxes and give honor to whom it is due

Christians have to be concerned with government on some level because we understand these things

We care about the sword being wielded well for the good of the society we live in

We are NOT motivated because we believe government is the answer to all of our problems

Governments are all temporary

Countries and empires are temporary

Social orders and cultures are temporary

These will all pass away

The Church is the only eternal Institution on the planet

She exists now and she will in the age to come

But that doesn’t mean government should be discarded or discounted as meaningless

We ARE motivated by Jeremiah’s words to the Exiles in Babylon:

Jeremiah 29:7 ESV

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

God’s people were in a country not their home, but they were still to look after it because their own welfare is tied to the state of the city

We want the CITY to be GOOD because WE LIVE IN IT

We are also motivated by Pauls’ words to the Romans right after the government passage:

Romans 13:9–10 ESV

For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

By seeking the good of the place we live in, we are loving our neighbors.

Salt and Light Believers

So how do we seek the welfare of the city?

How do properly care about the State of the Union?

This is where we want to be Salt and Light Believers

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

As Christians we bear the responsibility to engage the political realm and the culture around us according to what Christ has proclaimed.

You are the salt of the earth

Don’t lose your saltiness

You are the light of the world

Let your light shine!

Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article XV

Salt

In the ancient world, salt was used to PRESERVE and FLAVOR

Christians should have the same effect upon society

We should seek to preserve society: Slow down or stop decay and corruption

We should seek to flavor society: It should be better than it would be if we weren’t here

Light

Light is a little more straightforward to understand.

Light makes darkness go away.

When light shows up, darkness cannot withstand it.

Light doesn’t seek to draw attention to itself

Light seeks to reveal something else

When it comes to our light—we want to push back darkness with our good works, so that the glory of our Father in heaven would be seen

What It Actually Looks Like

Have a Witness — in neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and government

Always be seeking to herald the Gospel of the Kingdom in these places

Always be seeking to represent the Gospel of the Kingdom in these places

Live Biblically —

Get married and have babies

Be generous as Christ has been generous with us

Live with honesty and integrity

Be Merciful

Care for the weak. Be compassionate.

Show the world what pure and faultless religion looks like:

James 1:27 ESV

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Do Not Compromise

Culture changes like the wind and that wind is moving faster than ever

Do not go with the culture

Stay anchored to God’s Word so that you don’t get blown away like a leaf from a vine

God decides what is right and wrong for us—not society at large

Different from Christian to Christian

But this is different “Christian to Christian”

Not everyone is called to engage at the same level in all the same ways

Some Christians may be called by God to run for office

Other Christians may work to fundraise for a candidate

Another Christian might volunteer at the local clothes closet

While another Christian focuses on voting for godly candidates and praying fervently for elections

The bottom line is that each Christian is called to be salt and light and establish righteousness in the place where God has placed them.

And it may look different person to person

Not Different from Christian to Christian

And yet, in another sense, it is not different.

Whether or not you run for office—we should all

VOTE

PRAY

LIVE WITH INTEGRITY

FIND WAYS TO SERVE OTHERS

We can all seek the welfare of the city and establish righteousness through these means and measures.

3. Christians should seek the improvement of society.

The New Testament shows us several areas of social responsibility that should be of great concern to Christians.

The Baptist Faith and Message names some

In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article XV

Racism

What is Racism?

Our Confession of Faith specifically addresses racism

Racism is ultimately a sin of partiality

James 2:1 ESV

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

In James 2, James goes on to give an example of rich people and poor people coming into the church.

James says don’t favor the rich and give them a good place, while trying to hide away the poor

That is partiality—treating someone as less important or even despising them because of external factors

This is exactly what racism is—instead of treating someone as less important or despising them because of how much money they have, you do it because of their skin color

This is a sin that is offensive to both God and man

It offends God because you are denigrating one of His image-bearers

He gave them that skin and you are hating them for it—which means you are indirectly hating Him for making them that way

Genesis 1:26 ESV

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

Who are you to look at God’s image-bearing creation and decide it is lacking in worth?

How prideful is that?

Ultimately racism is just that—pride.

Being partial over race is actually the human heart deciding that it gets to decide what is beautiful and right—not God.

In a few short days it will be PRIDE month in this country.

All over the nation there will be celebrations over how we as humans have decided what is beautiful and right and how we have rejected God’s commands.

This is something that should caused us to be grieved as Christians.

Well listen—you can’t grieve THAT and harbor racism in your heart because they are born from same soil—PRIDE.

We Must Hate Racism

We must repudiate racism in our own hearts and in the world.

We should refuse to accept it or be associated with it.

The main way we do this is by believing, preaching and living out the Gospel.

If the power of the Gospel is at work in our soul, it should be tearing down our biases.

As citizens of heaven on earth, we should look at Christian brothers and sisters of all colors and say, “That is my family. Christ has made it so.” That reality alone should be demolishing your partiality!

If we believe in the power of the Gospel as the only way to be saved, then our view of race should be flipped on its head.

EVERYONE must hear and believe the Gospel!

Make disciples of all nations!

That is a lot of different skin colors!

That is a lot of different languages!

We should care about the color of skin, but not in the way evil racism wants us to.

We should care about it in the Revelation 5:9 sense:

Revelation 5:9 ESV

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

God has promised that by the blood of His Son, He would ransom a people for Himself from every tribe, language, people group and nation on the earth.

Heaven will be a tapestry—The Gospel will see to it.

If you believe that Gospel and you long for that heaven, then confess your partiality to God and turn from it hear on earth.

SBC and Racism

This issue is so important in our Convention that we have actually included in the Constitution in order to double down.

The Convention will only deem a church to be in friendly cooperation with the Convention, and sympathetic with its purposes and work (i.e., a “cooperating” church as that term is used in the Convention’s governing documents) which:

Southern Baptist Convention Constitution, Article III

Then it lists out five things:

Agree with the Baptist Faith and Message

Let the Convention know of your desire to associate

Give to the Cooperative Program

Do not harbor sexual abusers in your church

Do not harbor racism in your church

I believe one of the reasons we have determined that we need to be loud about this as Southern Baptists is because of our history.

In 1845, this Convention split from its Northern Baptist brothers over the issue of whether or not slaveowners should be sent out to the mission field

We were on the wrong side of that argument and we publicly said as much in at our Convention in 1995

Thankfully God takes crooked sticks and He makes straight lines

He took the Convention that started under some regrettable convictions and made it one of the most powerful Great Commission forces on the Earth, led by many godly people

Greed and Selfishness

Every generation of fallen humanity has been guilty of greed and selfishness

The Faith and Message lists them out especially because they lay at the root of so many of sin’s weeds

We live in a culture that is obsessed with stuff

We like to look at stuff

We like to desire stuff

We like to buy stuff

You want proof?

Amazon delivers 8.22 million orders a day in this country

The average American Amazon shopper makes one purchase every five days

And that is just Amazon—not counting Target or Walmart

We are people who WANT and BUY.

WANTING and BUYING. SAVING and SPENDING. LOOKING and LONGING.

When our hearts and eyes are always looking to consume, we are going to open ourselves up to greed and selfishness

And our society in the West is WIDE OPEN

As Christians we push back against greed with godly stewardship

Being good stewards enables us to be generous toward the Lord and others, instead of looking to consume

Our generosity should speak volumes in a generally greedy culture

Vice

The Faith and Message chooses to list the word VICE in this article

VICE is the opposite of VIRTUE

VIRTUE is good—it builds up society

Humility, patience, kindness, etc...

VICE tears down a society

We should be opposed to the things that TEAR DOWN a society

For example, we don’t just hate pornography because it is inherently sinful

We also oppose pornography because it is BAD for this society

It is harmful to men and women and children alike

Sports Gambling

Right now one of the most threatening vices in our culture that is largely unchecked is sports gambling.

In 2018, before the federal ban on sports gambling was lifted, Americans bet around $5 billion on sports annually.

Last year they bet $150 billion.

64 million Americans are now engaged in sports gambling

Prescott House says that around 50% of them confess to struggling with compulsory behavior around sports betting

Scary considering individuals with gambling addictions have proven to be 15x more at risk to suicide than your average citizen

And it is all aimed at 18-34 year old men—the most egotistical, brash and impulsive population in our society

And also the ones we are counting on to lead us in the future

I believe Satan is aiming to use this vice to tear down the men of America—thus tearing down her future in the process

In different seasons there are different vices that threaten our society—we as Christians should be aware of them and ready to avoid them and oppose them.

Opposing Vice

This is what Christians have always done

In Rome, the Christians protested the Gladiatorial Arena, where men would fight each other to the death

They condemned it as barbaric

They knew the violence of it was the opposite of the way of peace that Christ came to bring

Let us be aware of vice and adversarial to it

Sexual Immorality

The Faith and Message also speaks to sexual immorality

Clearly this is a massive problem in this nation

This iteration of the Faith and Message was published in 2000

Things are far worse now than they were then

The sexual revolution has become institutionalized

Perpetuated through social acceptance

Perpetuated through higher education

Perpetuated through media

Perpetuated through the laws of government in some cases—an example of Government failing in their Romans 13 role

This “Love is Love” revolution that teaches that true freedom is only found in fulfilling sexual desires is directly opposed to God’s will and ways

It violates His institution of marriage between a man and a wife

It violates the sexual purity that He longs for all humans to enjoy

It violates His design and His character

And so God takes these sins seriously

He has made humanity in His image, male and female

He gave us the gift of sexuality for the purpose of displaying His love in a covenant marriage

When humans reject this for whatever they decide is right, they are robbing God of His glory

Romans 1:24–25 ESV

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Sadly, this misuse and corruption of sex is a hallmark of our times.

We live in a pornographic society

And I am not just talking about the gross websites

I am even talking about regular old ads that play during Jeopardy! on a Tuesday

We live in a society that celebrates the erotic at the expense of righteousness and decency

We live in a society where adultery, homosexuality, living together before being married, premarital sex, transgenderism and a whole host of other perversions are readily accepted

In fact, most of those things are now viewed as healthy if practiced responsibly—maybe with the exception of adultery

Even the lost, in God’s common grace, still find disgust in adultery

Christians Must Stand

Believers must stand opposed to these harmful sexual sins without apology

We need boldness and courage to hold the line

Of course we also need to be loving

We look to Christ as our model who was filled with TRUTH AND GRACE

Believers must tell the culture—your body is for the Lord, not yourself

He made it for worship, not sexual immorality

We must tell them true freedom is found in Jesus Christ, not sexual expression and identity

We must warn the sexually immoral culture of judgment, but also hold out the Gospel and call on them to be saved!

They say “Love is Love,” but we know true love is this:

1 John 4:10 ESV

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

That is the message we preach to a sexually depraved culture

Caring for the Defenseless

Last but not least, the Faith and Message calls on us to be defenders of the defenseless

It even lists out who they are in case we might be confused:

We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.

This is that pure and faultless religion that James speaks of in James 1:27

It is an inescapable Christian responsibility

We should care for the most vulnerable

We should give a voice to the voiceless

It may take time. It make take money. It may take strategizing.

But the church should care for the forgotten

Not every local church can do every good thing

But as each local church is obedient to what God calls them to, the needs of the world are attended to

We can’t do all the work in Central America—but we can give to support ministry with incarcerated youth there

We can focus on THAT one thing

We can’t be the answer to every situation in York County where there is a food crisis, but we can serve a handful of families REALLY WELL here in our community with our Food Pantry

We can’t fix all the homelessness of Newport News, but we can support the Rescue Mission who is making a giant dent in it for the name of Christ

We can’t help every family in a pregnancy crisis, but we can support Carenet and pray that God would save many babies through their ministry

The church has always cared for the needy and defenseless

In the 2nd Century, Christians stood against the abortion practices in Rome

In Rome they would kill unwanted children in the womb

They would also kill them or leave them for dead after they were born

The Christians rejected the practice and took action by taking the abandoned babies and loving them as their own

Working With Men of Good Will

And it should be said that the Faith and Message encourages us to work with men of good will in order to seek the improvement of society.

I might disagree with a Roman Catholic about justification, but we can march together to protest the atrocity of abortion.

I might disagree with a Presbyterian on baptism, but we can work together in the realm of adoption.

I might disagree with a Methodist about church autonomy, but we can feed the poor together.

Similarly, the church may meet the politician in the public square at times and say, “Let’s work together for the sake of goodness and virtue in our society.”

We never compromise the Gospel.

But there are certainly situations where we, as Salt and Light, can link arms with our common man and help this world

Conclusion

The Lordship of Christ extends to every dimension of human culture

In order to seek to bring industry, government and society as a whole under the sway of righteousness, truth and love, we will have to:

Think deeply

Pray fervently

Labor with devotion

Mobilize our Christian witness and resources

But God is with His Church in this task.

We are the Light of the World, but in truth, we are just reflecting His brilliance.

We are the Salt of the Earth, but we have nothing to preserve and flavor this world with but His Word

Let us depend on Him for how we shall now live