As a
missiologist I am very much aware of the fact that when the gospel is introduced in
a socio-economic and cultural-religious context that there will be many forces
pitted against it. There will be clear
and deliberate resistance to some aspects of the gospel and biblical teaching
that displease us. There will be the joyful embrace of some aspects of the
gospel that please us. There will be also attempts to modify some of the
aspects of the gospel we do not like so that these becomes more palatable if
not downright self-serving. The Bible is very clear about the human heart, it
is devious and scheming and this is nowhere as visible as in the field of
morals and ethics. A lot can be said
about morals and ethics but the bottom-line is that it is about the basic
question ‘’how should we then live’’.
This question can be answered on the basis of democracy where a
combination of the majority vote, political compromise and what is already
enshrined in law in the history of our society gives us answers to the question
‘’how should we then live’’. In our current western society the answer would be
something like: ‘’you can believe whatever you want and live in whatever way
you want as an individual as long as you do not break the laws of our society
and do not measurably damage someone else in the process’’. This kind of individualistic
thinking has also found its way into the church and is dictating a subtle hedonistic
heresy which like Cain says: ‘’am I my
brother’s keeper’’? People influenced by this heresy hardly feel responsible
for their fellow-humans around the globe and spend virtually all their time and
resources on pleasing themselves. At
most they may give a little donation, a fraction of what they spend on
themselves to charity so that they can alleviate their nagging guilt-feelings
and feel good about themselves. After all deep down all humans have some sense
of the law of Christ: ‘’love your neighbour as yourself and do unto others as
you would like them to do to you’’. Also the heresy of ‘’you can believe
whatever you want as long as you do not break the law’’ has found its way into
our churches. Sound doctrine is replaced by a ‘’supermarket method’’ of picking
and choosing what we like to believe in the Bible and what not. Not on the
basis of some reliable criteria, but on the basis of personal preference. We
pick what suits us, we leave, question or downplay what doesn’t suit us. Many
churches condone this kind of behaviour as long as people do not break the
church laws, do not clearly harm others, do not undermine the authority of the
institution, and often most importantly do not threaten the position of the
office bearers of the institution. In
the end we may still call ourselves Christians but we really the ‘’Lords’’ of
our own lives, our God is our ‘’belly’’, that is our individual and collective self-interest.
Like the rich young man we may conform to the outward demands of religion and
feel very good about ourselves, and yet we are deceived.........The religion
God seeks is one based on an inner conviction of living a life of love for God
and our fellow humans whereby we look after the needs and interests of our
neighbour as much as we look after ourselves, a religion characterised by
looking after orphans and widows in distress.....This cannot be achieved by strenuous
adherence to the law of Christ but needs to come from a transformed heart that
is eager to live in such a manner. For no matter how hard a lemon tree tries,
she will not bear apples. Only a total transformation of our nature by Gods
Holy Spirit will make us bear the fruit we need to bear for His Glory.
