How can Christians make a difference?

March 22, 2019 authise authise

Today, we're reflecting on an extract from Rowan Williams' Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian life. 

How can Christians make a difference and how can we work together for the 'common good' in society?

The greatest public influence that can be exercised by Christian disciples in a complex modern democracy is simply contained in the messages given by types of behaviour that embody the radical respect I have been talking about. Voluntary activity that conveys this message will have the potential, over time, to shift what society takes for granted. And whether or not legislation arises from this (which can only happen if an overwhelming majority of a population is persuaded of the rightness of some change – like the abolition of slavery), the climate will be different and new possibilities for human beings will be seen to open up.

The Christian hospice is a singularly powerful example of witness arising from a serious commitment to the mystery of each person made for relation with God. Another is the active involvement of congregations in monitoring their commitment to fair trade, as expressed in what they choose to buy and how they bring consumer pressure to bear on issues of production and marketing; this too can be an effective witness. In the UK, we are also developing a variety of simple ways in which individuals and congregations can monitor their environmental ‘footprint’ – a small but significant contribution to raising general awareness of this question as a moral and spiritual matter.

Quite often, as with the case of environmental concerns, Christian and other religious bodies are uniquely well placed to pick up those causes that have been slow to attract mainstream political support because they do not win votes. (The reform of prison conditions is another such cause that has drawn much support from churches in the UK.) It has to be recognized that the apparently rational and equitable processes of secular democracy are always vulnerable to the requirements of the electoral process – which are, sadly, not always rational and equitable. Large-scale issues about public prosperity dominate these conflicts, and it is hard to find a hearing for other questions of longer-term significance – and longer term here does not mean less urgent. Churches and other faith groups might be called the trustees or custodians of the long-term questions, because they own a vision of human nature that does not depend on political fashions and majorities.

A healthy democracy, then, is one in which the state listens to the voices of moral vision that spring from communities that do not depend on the state itself for their integrity and meaning.

In this chapter I have been suggesting some of the specific ways in which the Christian model of humanity and the world in relation to God can open doors for renewed political vision; the Christian disciple is not seeking to make the state into a church, but is proposing to the state and to the culture in general a style and direction of common life – the life of the Body of Christ – that represents humanity at its fullest. A determinedly secular society is always in danger of becoming closed upon itself, never really coping with radical criticism, lacking a forum for discussing general moral priorities, and reluctant to change.

That is perhaps the essence of the Christian contribution in the public sphere. It is a voice that questions from a wholly different perspective, the kind of perspective that cannot be generated by corporate self-interest. It is a conversation partner, and what has sometimes been called a ‘critical friend’ to the state and its laws; it questions the foundations of what the state takes for granted, often challenging the shallowness of a prevailing social morality; it pushes for change to make the state a little more like the community that it is itself representing: the kingdom of God. It does not make the mistake of talking as though politics could bring the kingdom into being on earth, but it continually seeks to make the promise of the kingdom more concrete and visible in the common life of human beings, private and public.

In short, it tells the state not that it is unimportant or subordinate to some higher earthly power, just that it is relative in the perspective of God. Being disciples means being called to see others, and especially others in profound need, from the perspective of an eternal and unflinching, unalterable love. I hope and pray that we as disciples will respond to this by the strength of God’s Holy Spirit, and that we can proclaim this vision as the firmest possible ground for hope in all human societies – Eastern or Western, past, present or to come.

Being disciples means being called to see others from the perspective of an eternal and unflinching, unalterable love.

Being Disciples by Rowan Williams is out on SPCK now.

Thanks to Coffees and Candles for the image.