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Christianity without Christ is just "Ianity" - and who the heck is "Ian" compared with Jesus?! Or more to the point, who am "I" compared with Jesus! In February I'll attend the ARC Forum (Alliance of Responsible Citizenship). I fully agree with ARC that cross-disciplinary cooperatives are necessary to find solutions to Western decline. And that we need to re-inspire Western citizens with Judaeo-Christian values such as personal responsibility, reward for effort, and community. But ARC will ultimately only be successful in restoring human flourishing to the degree that citizens actually submit to the Christ who in-Spires those values into practice. 1. We need Jesus, not self. The Bible warns about "those having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2Tim3:5). Because such would be a counterfeit Christianity - it may look like Christianity but if it ignores Christ it is not. It's really just "I-anity" inevitably devolving into self-righteousness (legalistic or licentious), as our fallen self decides how to apply Christ's values. Without Christ, self rules under Christian terminology. We've already had too much of that in the West. Such hypocrisy obscures the Church and derails Western civilization with it. I confess I can see the danger of such nominal Christianity or I-anity in my circles, where we teach (rightly!) that Judaeo-Christian values, even the Bible itself, is the best values-set on which to build civilization. I teach world-views-from-a-Biblical-foundation. But I must also teach that people need the Person of Jesus even more than the values of Jesus. That's because the Person inspires the values. Jesus transforms the heart of a person to seek God's righteousness not self-righteousness. In fact if we truly had His values, we would know there's a spiritual dimension into which we must be reborn - consider Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus (John 3. All of John for that matter.) We know we can't have that Spiritual Life without Jesus! We need to listen to Christ Himself who prompts & empowers us to follow His values His way in our particular contexts. We need to be in-Spired by Christ's Spirit-in-us, His spiritual life in us. That's when we may we see His fruit in our lives. 2. We need Jesus in all sectors. Furthermore, to counteract the self corroding everything we do, we need Christ's inSpiration in all other spheres of life as well. Christ gives the Spirit necessary to flourish. Life is spiritual, so the spiritual aspect should not be ignored but integrated throughout all disciplines. For example, law-enforcer Jamie Winship sought the LORD's inspiration to solve his caseload of crimes. His rate of solving cases soon stood out, because apparently Jesus knows a fair bit about what's really going on in the world! Likewise, whatever our sector, we must humble our selves, die to self. "And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you." (Rom8:12). Then we can listen to Jesus and do what He says. Be led by the Spirit (Galatians 5.) That's what, or Who, led to the best, the most Christ-like, of Western Civilization. The secret to Western flourishing was (& still is) Christ. A spiritual blessing was at play. And now the West is declining as Western leaders and people have rejected Christ for I-anity. Someone once said, "everybody wants our ponies, but nobody wants our Stud." It is Christ who can again inSpire real response-able citizenship - where leaders and citizens are able-to-respond to Jesus' inSpiration towards Christlikeness. Only He knows the big picture, He knows how to weave together the good and bad intentions into a whole history. And how to raise the governments constituents deserve (Romans 13.) Yes, we must engage rigorously & cooperatively in & across all sectors. Work is part of the Garden of Eden. Indeed such work is also part of Jesus' values - He mandated his followers to "go into all the world." And all the world includes all the spheres:
But also, within our rigorous involvement in all the world, we are to have a particular spiritual influence: "make disciples..." That is, help others become Jesus-followers, with His Life in them too. In all the world's spheres there are people, and people need the spiritual life that only Jesus gives. As we go in all these spheres, we are not only to influence with Jesus' values, but to introduce people to Jesus Himself! And whenever they come to that new spiritual life, connecting directly with Jesus, that's what ultimately makes for truly response-able citizens - people led by Jesus to influence the world in ways that fruit in Christ-ianity, not mere I-anity. (That's the foundational work of Worldview Australia.) So let's not confine Jesus to the "Religious sphere." Churches do play a significant role in sharing that Spiritual Life, but that Life is needed in every sphere. All of life is ultimately spiritual, ignoring this will only frustrate our own efforts to flourish. Thus I encourage anyone, anywhere, in any sphere, to turn from self and to Him who is Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).
I pray for every person to submit to Jesus, so they might grow in Christlike influence as He leads and empowers. Such awakening and submission will manifest Christ's Spirit in more of the world's many spheres... until He comes.
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