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| Photo courtesy of loveyourcity.net |
I've been thinking a lot lately about the spiritual revival for our nation and the unity of the Christian faith towards this end. I've been keenly aware of the popular view of our narrowing selection of political candidates, as our nation heads toward another presidential election this fall. And the tension is palpable--as it has been for every generation throughout the centuries--how do we as Christ followers live in our modern secular society? How are we to live out Christ's call to be salt and light? How are we to avoid segregating ourselves into a "holy huddle" and tribalizing into our own Christian culture...and yet how do we avoid compromising, becoming too permissive, and blending into (and thus condoning) the secular society in which we live?
Well, the prophet Jeremiah addressed this issue in his letter to the people of Israel who had been taken into exile after Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians. They, too, were a people of God, finding themselves, for the first time, living in a pagan culture. What were they to do now? Separate themselves? Blend in? How were they to live for God in this place? Well, let's take a look at how the prophet addresses these concerns in Jeremiah chapter 29, starting with verse 4:
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 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."
We might be surprised at Jeremiah's instructions, given to him by the Lord. In essence, he says to dig in! Intermarry. Build houses, plant gardens, and stay awhile. And above all, pray for it! And for what purpose? To seek the welfare--often translated as "shalom"--of the city. Shalom is a very loaded word in the original Hebrew language; it means far more than "peace" or "welfare" and carries with it the connotation of things being how they ought to be, as in a sort of a pre-fall sense. So Jeremiah is saying: pray this pagan nation is how God designed it to be--created by Him to love and worship Him, bearing fruit and peace and joy and giving Him glory.
And you see, in God' economy, this benefits us in the process! Look at it in the last verse above again--"for in its welfare you will find your welfare." As the city prospers, so do we as Christ followers!
Sadly, so often we as Christians have an escapist view of the world in mind. We reason that someday we will leave it for Heaven when we die. Many believer's view of the end times involves a rapture of believers wherein non-believers are "left behind" on Earth. In many ways, we fall into Plato's dualism--that the material world is evil and the spiritual world is good. But the biblical view of the world is very different! God deemed that His natural creation was "good" in the Genesis account. Revelation speaks to the "new heaven and the new earth" that will come into being one day and last for all eternity. Instead of disposing of the world, God, through Christ, has sought to redeem and restore it. So this, too, should be our view. We ought not to separate ourselves from secular society and wish that it would be disposed of, with its politics, sciences, arts, etc. Rather, we ought to pray that it would be restored and redeemed! We ought to roll up our sleeves and invest in it! When was the last significant contribution the church has made in the area of fine arts? Two hundred years ago?! Why are not more believers investing themselves in the sciences or entertainment industry, two of the most godless arenas in our country today? Do we pray for our nation with a holy fervor? Do we work for its shalom?
Let us consider these questions for ourselves, and if we are parents, work to foster this love for our nation and our world in our children, who will be compelled not to dispose of it with all of its evil, but seek to work for its prosperity! Let us pray that God would place in our hearts a godly love for His world...for His glory.
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