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A friend asked me once, "I have believed in Jesus Christ and received forgiveness of sins through His redemption. Now that I am saved, what should my attitude be towards my country, towards society, and towards international problems? Should I take a passive stand and close my ears to everything, or should I actively participate in the solution to all problems?"
I have to admit that this is not an easy question to answer. It is a big issue. We cannot give an answer in two or three sentences. However, this matter does have a close relationship to our faith. In order to clarify this matter, I want to spend this chapter to briefly mention the proper Christian attitude towards social and political problems.
First, the Bible shows us clearly that Christ has to come to earth two times. The first happened in the past. The second has not yet come. During His first coming, He accomplished certain things. In the second coming, He will accomplish more things. We hope that He will come soon and that we do not have to wait too long. But He has His time. Christ is not apathetic towards all the social and political problems. But He has His time.
We can see from the Bible that in His first coming, He mainly dealt with sin, delivered the sinners, and dispensed a new life to them. In His second coming He will take care of the social problems and renew the political system. Our personal salvation was clearly settled at His first coming. Our nation, society, and existing systems will be taken up effectively at His second coming.
What Christ settled in His first coming has been mentioned in the previous chapters. We need not repeat them again. We want to look at the problems of our present situation, our country, and our political systems.
As Christians, we have certain stands and attitudes concerning these matters. However, we are not trying to solve all the problems. Only when Christ comes the second time will these matters be thoroughly settled.
We admit that there are many vices in our society. We cannot deny that our country has many needs. The system is basically unhealthy; there are numerous contradictions in our political framework. Tensions build up constantly on an international scale, and the future is gloomy. Modern youth are especially concerned about these issues. The more they ponder these matters, the more they are confused. Everywhere there are intelligent men trying to tackle these problems, and everywhere you can find more problems. Some wonder how man can survive on this planet in the next generation. Others study the global impact of food shortage. Then there is the question of the environment and transportation. People ask why there has to be crime and injustice and why the prisons are always filled with inmates. Others challenge the validity of class existence with some members of society being fed well while doing nothing, while others sweat all day only to find themselves in deeper poverty. Everywhere there are crises: between nations, between races, and between colors.
I admit that there are problems everywhere. On the one hand, man is busily enacting laws to prevent catastrophes from happening. On the other hand, the more laws man institutes, the more lawlessness runs rampant. Many issues are attacked and upheld with equal vehemence. Some people kill thousands of animals daily to satisfy the stomach. Others think it abhorrent to maltreat even the smallest creature. Because all these issues arise in our world, there is an endless train of questions passing through our minds daily.
What should our attitude be as Christians towards all these problems? In the midst of all these debates and arguments, where should Christians stand?
First, we have to see that God has already prepared the solution to all these problems. He has also set the schedule for the fulfillment of the solution. God is very clear about these problems. You can see from the Bible that no one is as clear as God towards these issues. For this reason you need not fret, worry, or hastily propose your own suggestions.
When Christ came the first time, He saved us individually. He did not deal with the world or its systems. He did not touch any social problems. His first coming was to settle the spiritual issues, not the material ones. But this does not mean that He ignores the latter. Christ will take up these problems; He will deal with each in a thorough way. But our work and responsibility as Christians are only to concentrate on that which God concentrates. We only do what Christ is doing. This is our basic principle.
No doubt we see many problems existing in our society and nation. Every one of them is a major issue. Every one demands an immediate solution. But we have to see that the one factor that originates all these problems is sin. All these problems arose because man became fallen and alienated from God. The order in which God works out His salvation is first to save us and solve our problem of sin. This is our regeneration. After man is saved, all the problems related to him are consequently solved.
Hence, the redeemed ones must first of all know God's work and concentrate on His concerns. What concerns God most is the problem of sin. We also must concern ourselves with the same. Since God cares for personal salvation and sanctification, we have no choice but to pay attention to the same. The solution to these problems is the work of God today. It ought to be the work of every one who belongs to Him. Today Christ is dispensing God's life to man. We also have to do the same. This is His work. It is also our work.
Because God's ordained work for the Christian today is saving sinners from sins and dispensing God's life, regardless of our rank and file, we have to do the work of saving men from sins. Whether we are kings or slaves, our commission is the same: to dispense God's life to others.
You may jump at me immediately, saying, "Are we going to ignore society and betray our country? Are we going to overlook things while races are being oppressed, nations are being harassed, and classes are being exploited?"
I can only give a simple answer to this: we can only be concerned for one thing. The Bible shows us what this one thing is. The rest is not our responsibility. When a man is saved, he will naturally be beneficial to society. He will naturally be an asset to his community and nation, and he will naturally not be injurious to others or animals. There is no question about this. We have only one direct work, and that is to evangelize. The result will automatically be carried over to the community and nation. However, this result is only indirect fruit. We are primarily concerned with the spiritual outcome; the physical one will definitely be taken care of. When we take care of individuals, society at large will reap the benefits.
Our job is not to deal directly with the problems of our nation, reorganize our institutions, or revolutionize our political system. We are not here to directly settle the problems among races. We cannot find these kinds of commandments in the Bible. What the Bible shows us is that we should do our best to save others and solve the individual problems of sin and sanctification. When sinners are saved, they will automatically affect their community, nation, and human institutions. But all this help is rendered indirectly. We do not deal with them directly.
The Lord Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world." Some misinterpret these words and stand up to propose that we should make our world a brighter and cleaner place.
But we have to realize what light and salt are. The Bible only shows what light is in one place. Ephesians 5:13 says, "Everything that makes manifest is light." Light is that which exposes. As a Christian, to be the light of the world means that you expose the people around you. For example, if everyone around you is an alcoholic and none has ever been uneasy about it before, your presence will convict them of their wrong. Or perhaps they are all gamblers and insensitive to their sinfulness. Your presence will make them feel ashamed. Everyone around you is quarrelsome and provocative. But you only smile at them without participating in their activities. Your presence will convict them of their corruption. This is what it means to be a light. When you expose their wrong in their midst, you are a light to them.
We are merely lights. We are not here to burn up the casinos, round up the outlaws, and reform society. To be a light means that formerly others did not know what is evil, but your presence as a Christian convicts them of their vices. Light is what exposes everything.
What about the salt of the earth? The function of salt is to preserve dead objects from turning stale and stinky. If something is dead already and you apply salt, it is preserved from further corruption and decay. There are many dead objects in this world. If you look around, you will find all kinds of decaying things. They sit there rotting. Your presence as a Christian will stop these things from further deterioration.
Our job is not to clean the house, scouring the world of all its filth. The Lord never commissioned us to reform society or change the institutions. He only gave us authority to save others. We are the salt of the earth. We are merely preventing the dead systems from further decay. We have no responsibility to reform them.
The world is like a large old ship that is built of different materials. There is wood and metal. But none of them is whole; every piece is corrupted. The rudder is gone and the ship has run aground. There is a big hole, and it may sink at any moment. The time is running out. You have to decide whether you are going to save the ship or save the men on it. If there is enough time, you may be able to save both. But there is not time for both to be saved. Which one would you rescue?
Our Christian attitude is that the ship is useless. It is too old. Even if it is saved, it is nothing but junk. The engine is just a mess of scrap metal. No part can be salvaged. We give up the ship and save only the men. Get the people out and dispose of the container. Besides, our Shipowner is building a bigger ship, a brand new one. That is the one we look forward to. This is our attitude towards the world.
We believe that there is absolutely no solution to the problems of the present system, governments, and society. The only way is to ignore them. The problems will be taken care of. When the new heaven and new earth are inaugurated, the old order with all of its problems will be borne away. Today we do not take care of those problems. We only save people. Even though society at large will be somewhat affected after individuals are saved, our commission is not to save the world.
Let us look again at the Lord Jesus. He never touched the question of politics. There were many Israelites who would have pledged Him their allegiance if He had proclaimed Himself King. But He declined to assume that position. Did He not have the power to revolutionize the system? Could He not save His country? He definitely could. But He did not do it. He came to save individuals from sins. He died on the cross and resurrected only to deliver us from sins and give us a new life.
The first coming of Christ was to accomplish the work of salvation. It delivers us from sin and dispenses life to us. He did not participate in social reforms. But even today, some still see Him as a social reformer. However, He never once instigated people to reorganize the government or stage a revolution.
Once some Jews came to tempt Him. They asked whether or not it was right to pay tax to Caesar. The Romans were a belligerent nation and their emperor a tyrant. How did Jesus answer them? He said, "Render then the things that are Caesar's to Caesar and the things that are God's to God." What He meant was that He was not interested in politics. He swept all worldly things aside. This is our Lord. If He had wanted to overturn the rule of Rome, it would not have been difficult. But His eyes were not on those things. He emphasized only one thing — to believe in Him. We have to believe in Him.
He said that He is the good Shepherd who left ninety-nine in the fold and went to seek for one lost sheep. He is like a woman who has ten pieces of silver but loses one. She lights up her candle and combs through her house until she finds it. He said He is also like a father, who cannot be at rest until his little prodigal son comes home. His purpose is to save men. He has no intention other than this. He never touched social problems. His object is man. All He wants is to save him and secure him.
Then let us turn to His apostle Paul. What kind of work did he do? Never once did he try to change the social order. He came only to solve man's spiritual needs and settle the spiritual problems of the church. He had no concern for the political issues of the day.
In those days Rome ruled over its empire with an iron fist. History tells us that they had an inhuman institution of slavery. Not only was it lawful to trade human beings publicly, but they could also beat or even crucify the slaves at will. What did Paul command the Christians to do? He said that the slaves should be obedient to their masters, and not only to the good ones, but to the ill-disposed and cruel ones as well. Did Paul lack the courage to stand up against the slave system? All who have read Paul's letters would agree that if there was a brave person in this world other than Jesus of Nazareth, it had to be Paul.
Today God is saving individual men. When they are saved, many other problems will be solved spontaneously and naturally. Among the Christians, there is no difference between the Jews and Greeks. Neither is there the distinction between free men and slaves, or a discrimination between the rich and poor. Even deep-rooted enmities between races and nations are dissolved among them. The Jews have the strongest national pride. They consider the Gentiles to be dogs. They are the most segregated people. But immediately after they come to the Lord, they are brought together with Christians of other cultures. All tensions and conflicts are dissolved.
If a Christian does not know the order of God's work, and if he gives up the work of evangelism to engage himself in social and political reforms, the result is not merely a matter of right or wrong, it is a dead-end street.
All the problems of today are caused by man being out of order. It is because man is evil that the system becomes evil. Since man is evil, no system can be good. Even if he is able to set up a good system, his evil nature still does not change, and he can do nothing. There are a number of philosophies which are lofty and logical, but under the hand of corrupted man, nothing can be achieved. However, if the man is right, it does not matter if the system is a little faulty. But if the man is wrong, a good system is useless. The first coming of Christ was for securing men. Without men He has no way.
We have to look at one passage in the Scripture to see how Christ deals with the world. First we will look at the parable and then the explanation.
Matthew 13:24-30 says, "Another parable He set before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field. But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares in the midst of the wheat and went away. And when the blade sprouted and produced fruit, then the tares appeared also. And the slaves of the master of the house came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did the tares come from? And he said to them, An enemy has done this. And the slaves said to him, Do you want us then to go and collect them? But he said, No, lest while collecting the tares, you uproot the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Collect first the tares and bind them into bundles to burn them up, but the wheat gather into my barn."
Again, read verses 36 to 40 of the same chapter. "Then, leaving the crowds, He went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, Make the parable of the tares of the field clear to us. And He answered and said, He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; and the harvest is the consummation of the age; and the reapers are angels. Therefore just as the tares are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the consummation of the age."
The Lord said that there will be an end to this world. What will happen at the end of the world? Please note verses 41 to 43. "The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom all the stumblingblocks and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. In that place there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
At the end of the world the Lord will gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling and those that cause iniquities. This is an excellent word. He will abolish all that causes stumbling. The racial problem causes stumbling. It shall be taken out. The international power struggle is also a stumbling element. It likewise will be removed. There will only be one kingdom: the kingdom of Christ. There will not be any more international conflicts. All the stumbling problems such as class exploitation and ideological struggle will be plucked out.
This is not all. All that cause iniquities will also be removed. You will not find gambling tables or barrooms anymore. All channels that lead to sins will be wiped out. Even if you want to sin, you will not be able to do so, for all the means for transgression will be gone. But this will happen only at Christ's second coming. All these problems will be solved then.
At that time the kingdom of God will be inaugurated on earth. All the saved ones will become the righteous ones because their sins have been taken away. All these righteous ones will shine in His kingdom. They will rule over His kingdom. Their presence will be as the sun, whose rays reach the farthest corner and whose power transpires throughout the earth. But all this will be brought to pass only at Christ's second coming.
No wonder you will fail if you want to work for Christ today. Only in that day will the kingdom of the earth become the kingdom of Christ and His saints. When that day comes, not only will all social vices be swept away, but the book of Isaiah tells us that even the enmities in the animal kingdom will be removed. Children will be able to play with snakes, and lions will graze in the pastures like cows. Even the beastly nature within animals will be transformed. All this will be realized at the second coming of Christ.
In the last century, there was a British woman politician named Christobel Pankhurst. She was the leader of the woman's suffrage movement. Before the First World War, she tried everything she could to stop the war. But the craftiness and wickedness of the politicians of the day soon triggered the catastrophe. She then tried her best to end the war. But her efforts were in vain; the war came to an end only after four bitter years. She thought that if she could lay her hand on power, she would be able to effect political reforms. But in the end she was convinced that there was no honesty in politics. To be honest would never make one successful in the political arena. She began to lose faith in worldly systems.
One day she was looking for some books in an old bookstore in London. From a pile she pulled out a small booklet written by a Christian. It said that the world situation was going to worsen, and there was no chance of improvement. The final solution would come only when Christ comes back again. She was fully captured by its message. She wanted to know the price of the book. The owner, realizing that she was a famed politician, gave it to her as a gift.
The book was published a few decades before that time, and the author had long deceased. But she realized that what the book mentioned about the world situation was absolutely correct. Other books merely discussed the outward appearance; this one exposed the root of the situation. It said that the Lord Jesus came the first time to save sinners. The second time He comes, He will change the political systems. The booklet also mentioned some prophecies in the Bible concerning the end of the world. Because of this book, she began to read the Bible and accepted Jesus Christ to be her Savior and King. Later she resigned her political career and wrote some good books concerning the work of Christ and His second coming.
What we need today is to be proper Christians. We do not need to try to change the institutions or reform society. All of our hope rests in the coming of our Lord. When He comes, all problems will be solved. Today, we only seek after God. We wait for the coming of His Son, and we trust that in that day we will reign with Him in His glory.
