We are exiles.
This is for Christians, and it’s long.
Those of us who are baby boomers are living in, uh, interesting days. Bob Dylan nailed it when, decades ago, he wrote “the times, they are a-changin’.” We of a certain age were alive when Sputnik was launched, and when man walked on the moon; we remember where we were when Kennedy was assassinated; and in later years, we remember Viet Nam, Nixon’s resignation after Watergate, the Berlin Wall coming down … we may even remember Woodstock and the 60’s. Those were days of extraordinary social and political upheaval. We see the world differently because of those days.
Now we are in a period of social change that I believe, subjectively, dwarfs what went on in previous decades. It seems that what was once good is now evil; what was virtuous is now a lie; and what were once the moral pillars of our society are crumbling. It seems that change is upon us daily, and it is not change for the better. It seems we’re balanced on a knife’s edge – one haphazard move and we slip off into the Abyss as a country.
As believers, we watch centuries of the best of biblical scholarship and Christian orthodoxy become twisted to fit unholy agendas. We see double standards at work in the media, where Christians are maligned but other religious groups are accommodated and embraced in the name of political correctness.
My response to all this is a profound sense of loss. Sometimes I think about the plight of Native Americans in our country when the Europeans came. I’m not going to debate the why’s of their often terrible treatment – what’s done is done. But consider: here are these indigenous people, living their lives without intrusion, when others come and stake claims on their lands. Before long, wars break out. The mindset among many newcomers toward the Indians was “We’re more enlightened, more educated, more cultured than you are. We know what’s best for you. And through the reach of our government, we are going to see to it that you comply with our laws and mandates. Cooperate, and all will go well for you. If you choose not to cooperate, there will be penalties.” These newcomers were persuaded they were on the right side of history.
This may be a tortured analogy, and certainly it would be naïve to compare what American Christians are facing these days to what American Indians were subjected to. But I think about those native peoples who had their lives turned upside down. I’m sure they felt extraordinary loss because their way of life had been wrested from them. It appears that American Christians are losing their way of life too – not in dramatic ways (we aren’t being persecuted as other believers in the Middle East are, for instance), but in the most subtle and subversive of ways. We’re being told “We’re more enlightened, more educated, more cultured than you are. We know what’s best for you. And through the reach of our government, we are going to see to it that you comply with our laws and mandates. Cooperate, and all will go well for you. If you choose not to cooperate, there will be penalties.” There are many in government and in society who feel they’re on the right side of history, too.
However, think about this: for the Christian, this is as bad as it will ever get. But for the non-believer, this is as good as it’s ever going to be.
I’m not advocating retiring from humanity, climbing a mountain, and waiting in solitude for the End of Days. I would suggest, though, that we be mindful of the truth that this is not our home. We are pilgrims here. Exiles. We are, by birthright, out of step and out of synch with the culture. If we conform to the changes around us, then we can’t be salt and light to the culture. At the same time, if we don’t engage the culture, then the salt remains in the shaker and the light stays under a basket. We have to adapt as missionaries, but we also have to confront wickedness.
The challenge is plain. The world won’t love us for the stand we take. We have to embrace the biblical combination of conviction in God’s truth and compassion for His creation. We don’t do that by standing off at a distance and hollering. We love others, even those who hold views contrary to ours and might even want us silenced. We see the world as perverse, abnormal, and destructive – and we must be willing to lay down our lives in love for those who are citizens of that world. Christ Himself personified this. His example is our call.
