Christian Activists
During our trip to India (May 5-22), I was able to keep up with world news a bit through reading an English language newspaper published in Bangalore, the city in south India where our group spent several days working alongside an Indian pastor and his family and congregation.
The newspaper includes a regular column written by SRI SRI Ravi Shankar, a popular spiritual leader whose Art of Living Foundation, according to its website, “offers programs to uncover the strength, peace, and joy that lie at the core of every human being,” and “seeks to help build a global society that is free of stress, violence, and misery - and full of service, wisdom, and celebration.”
On May 12, Ravi Shankar’s column, “The Concept of the Evil,” focused on the differences between Eastern and Western religious traditions’ approaches to dealing with evil:
In Eastern culture and religions, the deeply ingrained view is that it is God’s job to deal with evil. It is not the job of the individual. All that an individual has to do is to pray.… One needs only to pray and deities will take care of the evil…. The philosophy of surrendering to God and letting God take care of the problem is very deeply embedded in the consciousness in the East. When Hindus see something evil, they leave it to God…. (E)mbedded in the Hindu consciousness (is) that God alone will take care of any evil or any enemy.
In the West where there is a much more action-oriented approach to dealing with evil. (sic) In the Abrahamic traditions, it is viewed as the responsibility of the individual to take action against evil and to deal firmly with one’s enemies… This principle clearly favours activism when it comes to one’s enemies.”
It is clear that the Bible provides a framework for understanding our response to evil which avoids the stark dichotomy that Ravi Shankar describes; it’s not either “do it ourselves” or “let God do it.” The Scriptures declare that God is sovereign, just, and merciful, and that he will accomplish his purposes, defeat his enemies, and bring about the full reality of his eternal Kingdom – all of this through our Prophet, Priest, and King Jesus Christ. But the Scriptures also declare that God calls his people to be his instruments in his redemptive plan, to do justice and mercy, to live out in full obedience his calling to fight against evil and wrong and to show active compassion and care for those who suffer. So, according to the Bible, we fully embrace and trust in God’s sovereign power to deal with evil, and we agree that addressing the evil and suffering in the world is not an “individual” matter. But we must reject the quietism that would seek “being happy and at ease with yourself and with everybody around you” (from the Foundation website) while millions suffer under horrible conditions of spiritual darkness, poverty, and injustice. We joyfully embrace the calling to live out the truth and grace of the gospel, demonstrating God’s love for hurting and needy people through the message of salvation and deeds of mercy.
What a blessing it was to see this dialectical balance, which Paul describes in Romans as “the obedience of faith,” lived out before our eyes in the Indian Christians among whom we lived and worked during our trip: reaching out to homeless street children, who number in the tens of thousands in Bangalore, with the compassion of Jesus Christ; building homes for families displaced by the 2004 tsunami, families who have had no permanent shelter for these past four years; becoming acquainted with an organization that works with local government and agencies to set laborers free from virtually slave-labor working conditions; participating in ministries that offer the hope of the gospel for this life and the life to come.
Christians are called to be “activists” for the gospel not because we don’t trust God to deal with evil, but because we do. God’s intention is to accomplish his sovereign purpose primarily through his church, that is, through us, weak and foolish and sinful as we are. And in the midst of our active obedience our continuing prayer is “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” knowing full well that it will be!
Kathleen and I are deeply grateful for the opportunity we and our students had to witness Christians in action in India. Please join us in praying that they would be faithful and fruitful as they participate in God’s sovereign plan for the more than a billion people in that remarkable and needy nation.
Published on 23 Jun 2008 at 8:17 am. No Comments.