Agents of Social Change
Agents of Social Change
In the Great Commission of Matthew
28:18–20 (“teach all nations…”), Christ calls Christians to be agents of social
change in non-Christian cultures. Making the world’s nations disciples of
Christ requires that Christians see themselves as commissioned by Jesus Christ
— to act and speak by His authority, empowered by His Spirit, and to accomplish
social change according to His Word in those nations.
Today American politics is all about
social change, whether one is a Democrat or Republican, liberal or
conservative, Christian or anti-Christian. This has been true of our nation
since the appearance of the Social Gospel movement in the mid-19th century.
The Social Gospel was … an attempt to socialize the Gospel, to give it a
sociological frame of reference and purpose, and to make it a decisive force in
the shaping of the new America of the twentieth century. In order to do this,
the historic Gospel had to be brought into a harmonious relationship with
evolution in such a way that it was … scientifically respectable....1
But not all social change is good.
Some is devastating to a free and just social order. Just because a candidate
advocates changing society for the better does not mean he should receive the
Christian’s vote. Marxists and Muslims are also working for social change.
So then, how do we know when social
change is good and when it is bad? How do we know when change is needed? How do
we determine the goal and methods of social change? Is it even possible? Where
do we begin? The Christian goes to the Bible for answers to these questions
because it is the inerrant and all-sufficient written revelation of the
Creator; all human beings are accountable to live in submission to His revealed
will in all facets of their life on earth.
When Is Social Change Necessary?
A culture, like the United States, needs changing when it abandons its Christian foundation for a principle of revolt against Almighty God and His moral order. That change will manifest itself throughout the culture.
A culture, like the United States, needs changing when it abandons its Christian foundation for a principle of revolt against Almighty God and His moral order. That change will manifest itself throughout the culture.
Our analysis of the needs of society
must be based on God’s analysis of man and society revealed in the Bible. The
Word of God speaks with absolute and comprehensive authority to all aspects of
human society and activity. Biblical law must always be our one standard in
determining the direction and nature of social change.
The goals of social change must be a
free, just, prosperous, secure, and loving Christian civilization — a second
Christendom. Our methods as well as our goals must be taken from the Bible
because God’s goals can be reached only by God’s revealed ways and means. Godly
goals cannot be reached with ungodly methods because this amounts to
“abandoning Christ for the methods of His enemies.”2 Furthermore,
God has promised us that we can reach His goals: “Do not lose heart in doing
good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary” (Gal. 6:9).
Where to Begin
Where do we begin in our work for social change? One’s answer to this question will determine the nature, goal, and morality or immorality of the social change he seeks. Because many Christians have not thought consistently about this question, “[O]ne of our persistent problems today is that so much ‘reform’ approved by Christians and non-Christians, and liberals as well as conservatives, is simply immoral.”3 This is true for two primary reasons.
Where do we begin in our work for social change? One’s answer to this question will determine the nature, goal, and morality or immorality of the social change he seeks. Because many Christians have not thought consistently about this question, “[O]ne of our persistent problems today is that so much ‘reform’ approved by Christians and non-Christians, and liberals as well as conservatives, is simply immoral.”3 This is true for two primary reasons.
First, much social reform presupposes
that the political, economic, and social environment is the cause of man’s
problems. We are told that human beings are basically good, but victims of
their evil environment. Jesus refuted this in Mark 7:14–15: “Listen to Me, all
of you, and understand: there is nothing outside the man which going into him
can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the
man.”
Therefore, “much of our ‘reform’
legislation justifies the sinner in his sin. According to the logic of this
view, the tempter, rather than Adam and Eve, should have been at least cast out
of Eden, if not killed; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil should have
been demoted and sued for creating the possibility of temptation and sin.”4 But this view makes the sovereign Creator the
ultimate culprit.
Much of social reform is aimed at
removing God from the institutions of society to escape His moral order so that
fallen man can be free to establish his own immoral order (Ps. 2, “The kings of
the earth set themselves against the Lord….”). This amounts not to freedom but
to slavery.
Many Christians fail to recognize
that because human beings are pervasively sinful and in rebellion against God,
social change must begin not with politics, but with the regeneration of the
heart. This means that political, social, economic, institutional, and societal
change must be spearheaded with evangelism and Christian education:
Basically, the difference between all these plans of salvation and
Christianity is this: the non-Christian believes that the problem is not in man
but in something outside of him, in his environment, family, heredity, schooling,
or some like external factor. Thus, to change man, you first change the world
around him. The most logical and thorough-going expression of this faith is
revolution. It is held that the transformation of man must begin with the
radical transformation of his social order. Then man will himself be changed.
Liberation theology is the application of this faith within the church: change
the world, it is held, and then man can become a Christian. This is the same
faith set forth by the tempter to Jesus in the wilderness, Matthew 4:1–11.
(Ed., “‘All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship
me,’” said the Devil.”)
Biblical faith holds the contrary view. For Christianity, man must be changed by the sovereign grace of God through Jesus Christ. Then the changed man can change the world. Salvation cannot come to man nor to society apart from Christ’s atonement and His regenerating power. The dynamics of society are from God to man to the world.5
Biblical faith holds the contrary view. For Christianity, man must be changed by the sovereign grace of God through Jesus Christ. Then the changed man can change the world. Salvation cannot come to man nor to society apart from Christ’s atonement and His regenerating power. The dynamics of society are from God to man to the world.5
The Top-Down Approach
Social reform that begins with changing society and that is “top down” (beginning with political legislation and directives) is:
Social reform that begins with changing society and that is “top down” (beginning with political legislation and directives) is:
…disruptive and threatening to those below, and the result is the
creation of a rootless mob below, whose life-style has been broken, their loyalties
shattered, and their conditions all too little improved. The time is ripe for a
strong and virile Christianity, one firmly committed to Biblical law, to
command the day. Nothing else can provide a comparable motive force for the
reconstruction of all things. Change is certain, but whether or not it will be
progress depends on who controls it.6
How do we apply all this to our
choice of candidates when all candidates say they are for reforming society for
the better?
Christians must vote only for those
candidates who do not see themselves as agents of social change, but as men who
are to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution, according to its original
intent, and who are not afraid to confess publicly that the God of the Bible is
the sovereign source of law, liberty, and justice for all. As R.J. Rushdoony
taught us, elected officials are either champions of Biblical law or
hatchet-men for the humanistic status quo.
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