This Week's White Horse Inn

The Great Commission and the Great Commandment

Sometimes we confuse the Great Commission (making disciples through the gospel) with the Great Commandment (serving our neighbors through loving works), as if the official mission of the church is the same as the individual Christian’s many obligations in the world. If Christians are called to citizenship, social justice, and good works in the world, does this mean that the calling of the church as an institution is to transform the kingdoms of this age? This special edition of the White Horse Inn was recorded live at The Gospel Coalition in Chicago, and features special guest Julius Kim, associate professor of practical theology at Westminster Seminary California.

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Comments

[armk]

It appears to me after listening carefully to this conversation that Dr. Horton and Rev. Jones (22:33-25:49) believe and teach that, although the church as an institution has no mandate to transform culture, Christians as citizens of the commonwealth do.

These sections stand out in that regard:
(01:55-02:41)
(13:44-14:40)
(17:09-17:42)
(22:01-22:32)
(22:33-25:49), esp. (24:58-25:10)
(25:49-26:32): "A lot of the churches I grew up in were so worried about the social gospel that they avoided social justice [Jones and Rosenbladt voice their agreement]. And I think now you have a generation reacting, having grown up the same way, they're reacting by running to the other extreme. And what we're saying is both of those are wrong because social justice is rooted in creation. Our brother cries out to us from the ground. And during the Civil Rights Movement, our brother's blood should have cried out to us from the ground. And it did, but we weren't listening. And when I was growing up, the law was all about private morality, not about loving the neighbor [Jones and Rosenblatt voice their agreement]."
(27:37-27:47)
(29:29-29:39): "So individual citizens ought to seek political power to back justice in the world [Rosenbladt and Kim voice their agreement], but the church should never seek political power for any of its pronouncements."

Dr. Rosenbladt in some places seems to agree (25:49-26:32 and 29:29-29:39), but elsewhere seems to disagree (17:32-18:21). He sounds opposed to Christians (distinct from the institutional church) seeking to transform culture "through policy decisions that occur in a city." One possible problem with that view however (if I am understanding the good professor correctly) is, as Rev. Jones points out (22:33-25:49, esp. 24:58-25:10), there are connections between laws and societal evils (such as slavery, segregation, and abortion), and political action targeting to modify those unjust laws through policy changes is a legitimate calling for Christians (and, sometimes, necessary to bring an end to those evils). It took decades of dedicated, persevering, organized political action by Christians and non-Christians in Britain and America to help bring an end to slavery and, later, Jim Crow laws. Similarly, the end of abortion on demand will require "policy decisions" influenced in part by the involvement of Christians.

[Zrim]

At the same time, armk, some of us remain agnostic about the power of politics and legislation to effect justice. Contra what some may want to imply, that doesn't mean an apathy for our neighbor or justice. I suppose sometimes it could, but to assume such skepticism is apathy seems uncharitable. It could be that what some might read as an overreaction to social gospel is not so much a coldness for justice but a skepticism about the over-realizing of law and just what legislation can do. And it could be that loving one's neighbor has as much to do with enduring with her as she weighs a personal and complicated situation as it does with making sure she mayn't terminate her unwanted pregnancy.

[armk]

Hello, Zrim. Although I have met my fair share of apathetic Christians, I did not mean to imply you (a fellow anonymous online interlocutor I know little to nothing about) lacks love for neighbors or justice. I believe Dr. Horton and Rev. Jones were communicating more from a defensive standpoint (attempting to justify political involvement by Christians against charges (by some) that involvement necessarily signals theonomic aspirations, confounding of the Great Commission with the Great Commandment, and disobedience to God & His Word), and not from an offensive standpoint condemning or caricaturing you or anyone else in particular.

Quote: "And it could be that loving one's neighbor has as much to do with enduring with her as she weighs a personal and complicated situation as it does with making sure she mayn't terminate her unwanted pregnancy."

Absolutely. It is not an either-or situation.

Quote: "...some of us remain agnostic about the power of politics and legislation to effect justice."

I personally am uncomfortable with the use of power, including political power, to effect justice. However, can you reasonably deny that politics, legislation, judicial fiat have been used quite effectively and often in the last several decades to effect evil and injustice? Politicians and activist judges are right now actively working to overthrow all vestiges of Judeo-Christian morality from law and society by redefining foundational concepts as human life/worth and marriage, and by remolding law and culture according to relativist ethics. According to polls, 60-65% of Americans of voting age still hold life and family-affirming conservative views, but only about half of those 60-65% choose to participate in the democratic process; so, the impotency lies not in the effectiveness of the process itself but either in apathy or in a somewhat unfounded lack of confidence in the process to preserve some good while thwarting/slowing evil.

[Zrim]

armk, thanks for the either-or point. But my sense is that when the a-word is brought up in the conservative Christian world it is decidedly an issue about only one of our neighbors, the in-utero one. The ex-utero one sort of gets forgotten. Plus, what is remembered is remembered mainly in terms of legislation, which collides with my own skepticism about the power of politics.

Which leads to the rest of your post. Sure, law has done some good things and there is certainly a place for it. Has it brought about the Great Society? No. You can legalize or criminalize things (and to be clear, I'm all for criminalizing abortion), but the human condition is much too complicated for one facet in social arranging to "thwart evil and secure justice." I think homes are actually much more effective than halls of justice. But even the best homes can make the worst human beings. Have civil rights really done as much to thwart institutional racism? Ask most blacks and they're still pretty aware of an abiding racism. We whites like to think in sunny terms about what has happened in the last several decades, but real human beings know that laws only do so much.

[armk]

Quote: "But my sense is that when the a-word is brought up in the conservative Christian world it is decidedly an issue about only one of our neighbors, the in-utero one. The ex-utero one sort of gets forgotten. Plus, what is remembered is remembered mainly in terms of legislation..."

Hi, Zrim. That had also been my impression before deciding to volunteer some of my time to pregnancy resource centers and the California Pro Life Council. Now I know a little better. These are some of the most caring people I've ever met and I've grown as a Christian by working with them; they care about ex-uterians as much as in-uterians. In fact, one important in-house debate that has been going on for several years is whether many PRC's might actually be overemphasizing in their rhetoric, counseling, and other resources the emotional repercussions to women (pregnant, post-delivery, or post-abortion) while de-emphasizing the central question of the humanness of the unborn.

Please take a look through heartbeatinternational.org, and if you can provide some always needed help:
heartbeatinternational.org/services-homepage
heartbeatinternational.org/services-pregnancy-help-centers/
heartbeatinternational.org/donate/
californiaprolife.org/resources/pregnancy_help/
californiaprolife.org/volunteer/
nrlc.org/states/index.html

As to the impact of law, legislation will never make my neighbor love me but I have personally experienced as a non-white American the impact of the Civil Rights Movement in breaking down many artificial barriers that were impenetrable just 40-50 years ago. Skin color was not an obstacle for the current holder of the most powerful position in the nation.

I do believe the potential societal damage from bad laws is much greater than the potential benefit from good laws. In choosing to be disengaged from the democratic process by focusing too much on the latter part of this equation, some Christians look to be assenting by silence to the continuing onslaught of the former.