Christ ChurchNSA Disputatio: Is Social Justice Just? (Grace Agenda 2018)
A Narnian Approach to Cultural Engagement – Ben Zornes (CRF)
The Supermodel Who Became a Babushka
For centuries, Modernism has made attempt after attempt to fit the universe into a tidy Excel spreadsheet. Everything was premised on nature as a closed system with no room for the supernatural or miraculous. Reason was the center. But the goddess reason still could not account for such things as courage, love, and man’s sense of morality; logic demanded that all causes need a causeless Cause, and every motion needs ultimately to be explained by an unmoved Mover.
Modernism has now morphed into the disgruntled and skeptical curmudgeon we call Postmodernism. Reason alone couldn’t hold the universe together, so rationally the only explanation for the universe is irrationality.
[In Narnia] You come away equipped to fight the right enemy, the right errors, and most importantly in the right way.Modernism viewed the cosmos as a machine; humans were the only beings with enough reason to peer behind the curtain and explain how and why the machine grinds away. Without a Creator outside of creation, this view of the cosmos as a machine deteriorates into a view that the cosmos are chaos. That is postmodernism.
Modernism worshipped the goddess of reason; postmodernism is left to grovel at the altar of raw appetite. Feelings, impulses and desires are the only thing that make sense to a world that has no Cause to give it purpose. If there is no explanation, all that is left is experience. If there is no transcendent, there is only the imminent. So, eat, drink, be merry…smoke pot, become a woman, or a dragon, or an alien, make love, take love, and be swallowed up by the meaningless. Modernism was the supermodel which enamored the whole earth, but now she is a babushka.
What would Narnians Do?
Lewis, while not explicitly aiming at postmodernism of the 2018, gave us Narnia. In reading through the Narniad, he envelops the reader with a sense of joy, epitomizing courage and cowardice, heroism and heresy, villains and virtues. You come away equipped to fight the right enemy, the right errors, and most importantly in the right way.
Episode 1
King Lune of Archeland admonished his son, “For this is what it means to be a king: to be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat, and when there’s hunger in the land (as must be now and then in bad years) to wear finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any man in your land (The Horse and His Boy, pg. ?).”
The lesson here is that there will be engagement with enemies. This is a non-negotiable. Thus, a true Narnian spirit is one that leads with courage and sacrifice. In the face of a fight, the instinct is to run to battle and not away. Even in the hardest of circumstance, a Narnian does all this jovially and sets the example of resisting moroseness and despair.
Episode 2
While in Underworld, as the witch has almost lulled the heroes into an enchanted sleep, Puddleglum rouses himself to stamp out the magical fire (burning his foot in the process). Notice that his argument is not an appeal to reason, but an appeal to beauty:
In striving to persuade, sometimes the best way to win an argument is not with a syllogism but with a good story, along with the aroma of personal sacrifice.‘“One word, Ma’am,” he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. “One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one more thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things—trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that’s a small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say (The Silver Chair, pg. 182).”
What we learn from Puddleglum is to “man up,” and never be seduced by the enchanting words of godless worldviews. Further, in striving to persuade, sometimes the best way to win an argument is not with a syllogism but with a good story, along with the aroma of personal sacrifice. Puddleglum is a faithful reminder that, “Aslan’s instructions always work; there are no exceptions (The Silver Chair, pg. 121).”
Episode 3
In High King Peter’s fight against Miraz, we see noblesse oblige exemplified. Narnians refuse to “fight dirty.” Although intrigue, deception and manipulation are commonplace in Miraz’s camp, it was not to be found in Narnia’s. Honor before life. Edmund even remarks: “Oh, bother, bother, bother, need he as gentlemanly as all that? (Prince Caspain, pg. 208)” We should go above and beyond to be above reproach; but notice, Peter still fought. It is not bad form to fight fervently for the truth, it is bad form to fight dirty…but worst of all is to not fight at all.
Simultaneous to this episode, Aslan, Lucy, and Susan are romping through Narnia feasting and celebrating (cf. pgs 210-218 of Prince Caspian). Their train grows larger with each stop as the misery of Telmarine fear, lies, and intrigue are thrown off for the joy, gladness and merriment of Narnian rejoicing. We win by laughing and feasting.
Episode 4
In the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the heroes find themselves rescuing a man from a “dark Island.” He is terrified and begs them to flee. Reepicheep responds: “Compose yourself and tell us what the danger is. We are not used to flying.” He informs them that this is the “Island Where Dreams Come True.” Everyone is mortified. ‘[They realized] what it would mean to land on a country where dreams come true. Only Reepicheep remained unmoved. “Your Majesty, your Majesty,” he said, “are you going to tolerate this mutiny, this poltroonery? This is a panic, this is a rout.” “Row, row,” bellowed Caspian, “[…] You can say what you like, Reepicheep. There are some things no man can face.” “It is, then, my good fortune not to be a man.” replied Reepicheep. (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, pgs. 156 & 157)”
Despite Reep’s adjuration that they not flee, a terror begins to descend on them, and it seems all hope is lost. It is at this moment of utter darkness and terror that Lucy petitions, “Aslan, if ever you loved us at all, send us help now (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, pg. 159).” Even if our nerves fail us, our fears beset us, our foes overshadow us, we ought to always turn to God in prayers of deliverance.
Of course, we should be like Reepicheep and be quite unfamiliar with retreating. After all, the armor of God makes no provision for the backside. The implication is that retreat should be a foreign concept to Gospel work. Reepicheep was a Narnian Jonathan Edwards, with eternity stamped on his eyes.
Episode 5
When the orphan, Shasta, first meets the Narnians, here is how they are described: “Instead of being grave and mysterious like most Calormenes, they walked with a swing and let their arms and shoulders go free, and chatted and laughed. One was whistling. You could see that they were ready to be friends with anyone who was friendly and didn’t give a fig for anyone who wasn’t (The Horse and His Boy, pg. 55).” One prevailing thread here as we watch “Narnian cultural engagement” is that they are overwhelmingly carefree. Ready to befriend, and not at all concerned about the applause of man. Indeed, they were free men.
Bold Ambassadors, Living Peaceably
Narnia, of course, is not our standard, Scripture is. What Lewis has done is embody Scriptural attitudes, manners, and worldview into a vibrant story. We are pilgrims on this earth (1 Pt. 2:11). Scripture paints a picture of how the people of God should interact with the unbelieving world. We are to approach it as if we are, in fact, ambassadors, and thus we should be bold. Notice that at the end of the description of the armor of God we have this prayer request appended:
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
And in the book of Acts it was a frequent prayer of the early church that—even in the face of persecution—God would grant them boldness; they were after all servants and ambassadors of the King of kings.
And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word.
Furthermore, our desire for our enemies is not that of violence, but of Gospel peace. We are to desire, and strive for, their conversion. The peace which we proclaim is not compromise with the world, but the Gospel that Christ has overthrown the kingdom of darkness and now rules the world with truth and grace. We are inviting them to the feast of the conquering King.
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Living in God’s World
As ambassadors, then, we should take great comfort and courage in the fact that this is God’s world; He is king, creator and sustainer of it. Furthermore, we know that every human we meet with has a knowledge of God Almighty. In the reprobate we know they have devised all sorts of schemes to repress this knowledge, and thus their idolatry, ingratitude and fornication (see Romans 1:18-32); in the regenerate, obviously this knowledge has been revealed in Christ and by grace, believed upon.
This is God’s world. God’s rules are at play here, not the rules of man’s autonomy. Tirian, the last King of Narnia, embodies this mindset, when he reminds Jill (on the cusp of a seemingly hopeless battle), “Courage, child: we are all between the paws of the true Aslan (The Last Battle, pg. 106).” For a Narnian Christian, underlying everything is a rock solid confidence in the sovereign power of the Lord Jesus over all things.
On Christian Disobedience #6
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Introduction
In times like these, what do we do to prepare ourselves? If a moment of “defiance” is going to come, what should we do to get ready? This is an appropriate question in the wake of these Planned Parenthood videos, because it is quite possible that the moment has already come.
How should we think? Some Christians think we should drop everything and get involved because the secularists are taking over America and we have to get organized and stop them. Other Christians disparage political involvement and say we should get back to “preaching the gospel”—but the gospel they want to preach is as impotent as might be expected. In contrast to both these options, we assert the duty of the Church in preaching a world-transforming gospel, a gospel that will take our unbelieving culture, turn it upside down, and shake it until all the change falls out of its pockets.
The Text
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:13-16).
True Recovery
Before we recover our freedoms, we must recover our sanity. But this will never happen outside the presence of the Most High God. And His presence is ministered to us in the biblical worship of the saints as we gather to sing, hear, preach, and feast at His Table. That is the context of all that follows.
The Heresy of the Lowest Common Denominator
For well over a century, evangelical Christians have sought unity by minimizing truth (because truth “divides” you know), and we want to be united. This is particularly obvious in political coalition building—we do not talk about what divides us so that we can get on with the business of “lobbying.” But this refusal to talk about what divides us is actually a refusal to talk about what is wrong with us. And this we do because we are unwilling to repent of our sins.
We say to the unbelieving world that it must repent of its great and grievous sins. What would we say if they replied (as they could, and do), “you are the Church. Show us how.”
A sick and dying culture needs the maximum amount of truth, which never comes in teaspoon doses.
A Future and a Hope
These videos are simply God’s return volley to the Obergefell decision. What did God say to Israel in exile? “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11, ESV). In the conclusion of his opinion in Obergefell, Scalia wrote this prescient sentence.
“With each decision of ours that takes from the People a question properly left to them – with each decision that is unabashedly based not on law, but on the ‘reasoned judgment’ of a bare majority of this Court – we move one step closer to being reminded of our impotence.”
That is what is happening right now. Our nation acquiesced to Roe, which we should not have done. That acquiescence makes the entire nation complicit, but God in His great mercy has presented us with an opportunity to repent of that complicity. In 1973, we saw Gross Constitutional Overreach A, and we did nothing. In 2015, Gross Constitutional Overreach B arrived, as it had to, given A, and then God—whose mercies are everlasting —gave us an opportunity to react to A the way we should have the first time. We are now being given an opportunity to undo Roe and to do so by direct action.
A Salty Church
Before the world will glorify our Father in heaven, we need the miracle of restored saltiness. And what will that be like?
It will be characterized by potency in the gospel—we must always keep an undiluted gospel central. “ . . . but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:23-25). This is effective, but not in a way which the worldly enjoy. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26).
It will be characterized by true wisdom —the way back will not be shown to us by the various evangelical pollsters, church growth experts, consultants, managers, handlers, suits and haircuts, those always sure to cluster around any work that looks like it might make a buck—because they are in business, and in business, the customer is always right. But we are not in business, and we have no customers here, only sinners and forgiven saints. Our clear duty is to present the scandal and offensiveness of the truth both winsomely and pungently. “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Col. 4:6).
It must be characterized by glory in worship —as we shine the light of worship in the world, we teach the world to worship. When we do this, we teach the kings of the earth the meaning of worship. Princes also shall worship . . . (Is. 49:6-7).
It will be characterized by forgiveness that laughs—this is the great lesson. Our first temptation is to be oblivious to the claims of Christ. Then, when they are borne in on us, we are tempted to a spiritual despair. But this is not the call of God.
“And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep. ‘For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength’” (Neh. 8:9-10).
On Christian Disobedience #5
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Introduction
As we have been considering the relationship of the believer to the modern secular state, what have we learned? We know that our current rulers are in high rebellion against God, and have therefore forfeited all moral legitimacy. Judgment, when meted out by God, will have been most mercifully delayed—even if it happens tomorrow. In the meantime, we submit to the de facto rule of the regime because God is the one who judges, and because we are included in His judgments. But even in judgment their authority is not absolute in God’s eyes, and so there is a point where we must resist. Further, their authority is not absolute according to their own constitutions and laws, which have far more residual Christianity woven throughout them than the secularists would like us to believe. Remember particularly that resistance is sometimes the only way to submit to “the established authorities.”
Our dilemma can be summed up this way. Our rulers have no moral legitimacy. But neither do we.
The Text
“Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk . . .” (Matt. 22:15-22).
Render to Caesar
The Lord Jesus was presented with a difficult question. Do we pay taxes or not? If
yes . . . He is a quisling. If no . . . He is a rebel. But Christ answered in a way which left them thunderstruck. We have very tiny minds, and have difficulty distinguishing things which necessarily differ.
So here we must distinguish between “less than perfect government,” which is what we will always have on this planet, and “idolatrous government,” which we are commanded not to have. To complicate things further, these two kinds of government will frequently overlap. With the former, we have the option of resisting, depending upon the issue, circumstances, history, laws, etc. With the latter, resistance is a positive moral duty in every instance where they have made the idolatry mandatory. This is not the same thing as having the idolatry present. Daniel in the Babylon was in the midst of idolatry, but was untouched by it.
Christians on both ends of the left/right political spectrum have trouble making these distinctions, and ideological perfectionism is a real plague. Remember that our phrase right wing came from the seating in the French legislative chambers after the Revolution.
The right wingers were the moderates, but they were moderate revolutionaries.
Common Problem Areas
These are some areas where we must think with maturity, and pick our battles carefully. Consider carefully the teaching in Matthew 17:24-27.
“And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.
Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee” (Matt. 17:24–27).
The first point here is that not every right should be grasped. Jesus here had His disciples pay a tax they didn’t owe. On the subject of taxes, we apparently need more humbling than we have received thus far—and besides, to draw the line here and not at other places reveals why we need humbling. As Jesus points out here, such taxes are a sign of alienation between the rulers and the ruled.
What about regulations? Do not assume that you are required to do whatever a random bureaucrat says you are required to do. There is a difference between regulations and laws—with regulations frequently being illegal and unconstitutional themselves. At the same time, do not embroil yourself in nickel/dime controversies. This would include building regulations, EPA regulations, and so forth. But making such prudent choices does not mean your conscience is bound. At the same time, you do what you do before God.
Those who have a zeal for liberty sometimes display an absolute genius for picking a swamp to defend instead of a hill. In a perfect world, we would not have to get a license in order to mow our own lawns, but in the meantime, take care that you do not set yourself up to have to fight over issues with a very low rate of return.
None of these issues can be settled with a check list mentality. “Is this okay? How about that?” The principles which should be brought to bear on your decision include history, context, resources, accountability, and more. Seek to grow in grace and wisdom.
Render to God
Now let’s return to our text. That which Caesar can manage to get his image on can lawfully be rendered to him (although Christ does not teach that it must be). But we bear the image of God. Therefore, we are prohibited from rendering ourselves, or our children, to Caesar. When he claims ultimacy, we are required to clearly and plainly say, “We must not do as you say.”
But how can we understand the image of God, unless we recover the biblical vision of God? If we do not know God, then how can we comprehend or see that which reflects Him? We cannot know ourselves without seeing God revealed as the Most High. Man- centered religion is therefore the enemy of . . . man, the image-bearer. This is why reformation in the church is essential to political reformation.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Cor. 3:17). This is not because of some mysterious and invisible connection, but rather because the Spirit of God works in converted men and women in order to renew the defaced image of God. “. . . and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:23-24).
There is more to this than simply refusing to render the imago Dei to Caesar. We must render ourselves and our children to God, so that He might teach us the truth, and consequently set us free. A righteous and holy people have never been successfully enslaved. We, on the other hand, have been made slaves. The way out is not to beat your head against the walls of the prison. The way out is the pursuit of righteousness and holiness. And that can only be accomplished through the gospel of free grace. Only free grace can grow free men.
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