Yes ,if Christians really obey,the teachings of our Lord,a lot of our concerns we brought up would sound very different.I believe,the Lord will not call anyone of His followers,without preparing them for that task.Long before a person decides to be involved,he or she probably ,known or unknown to them, have gone through His schools of preparation.When the Lord needs that individual,they will be tapped in the heart,and they better answer,because it would be that familiar tap, that is known to him/to her for a long time. It is much more difficult ,to live the Christian faith ,in the secular place than to talk among Christian friends.

I think there are two big areas for Christians to engage with: The economic suffering that so many are experiencing right now. And the general toxicity and nastiness in our socio-cultural divide. Too often Chritianity gets coopted into the destructive narratives which cause these problems rather than offering a genuine alternative to them.

Greg what a great response and ending to your thoughts! God bless you heaps indeed!

I’m working on a book that will say more. Meantime, I’d recommend Niebuhr, Volf, and Hunter for anyone seriously interested in this area.
Philip

In A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson writes: “A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way. As long as we think the next election might eliminate crime or another scientific breakthrough might save the environment or another pay raise might push us over the edge of anxiety into a life of tranquillity, we are not likely to risk the arduous uncertainties of the life of faith. A person has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he, before she, acquires an appetite for the world of grace.”

For me, too many of us Christians don’t seem to understand the extent of the world’s predicament: we actually think that a new policy or a new government can address society’s ills. In point of fact, our only hope is Jesus, whose way contrasts starkly with the way of politics. How can so many of us not see the differences? They are black and white. Politics works on the basis of coercive power: whoever is bigger, stronger and more threatening wins. Jesus, on the other hand, is God’s gift of grace to weak, fallen, helpless sinners. He who is King of kings and Lord of lords willingly endured the torment and shame of the cross when he could have avoided doing so simply by wielding power that is rightfully his to wield. Instead he meekly allowed evil men to impose their will upon him – and all for selfless love. Proud politicians (and, it has to be said, religious types too) routinely wear a veneer of righteousness to conceal the darkness within, but Jesus – who was (and is) spotless through and through – took on our shame as his own, becoming sin for us. The differences between politics and the way of Christ are many – I could go on and on. Why, oh why, oh WHY have so many of us apparently not understood that Jesus is NOT a political Messiah, and that his way – the kingdom way – is radically different from the way of worldly power and politics? They are diametrically opposed; neither of them comes to fruition via the other.

If more Christians were more obedient to Christ in living out the Christian way and less concerned with trying to impose Christianity on the world via the political system (a complete misnomer), the issues you mention, Philip – health care for the poor, protecting widows and orphans, the deaths of children in their millions due to malnutrition – would be, at the very least, on a scale vastly smaller than their current epic proportions. These are problems for which only Jesus is the solution, and it seems he’s not going to implement that solution without us, his body on earth. It all starts in prayer…

God bless you heaps, Philip.

George Bernard Shaw said, “We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.” While this is cute (and those he describes fill the news headlines with their lack of discernment), his statement is also disingenious. Those who make the obvious blunders may learn very little, many cooler heads daily bear in mind the lessons of history as they strive to choose wiser paths. Unfortunately, in hot-button socio-political arenas, many of us with busy lives find ourselves unable to keep up with the mirade of current and historical perspectives (can we say “information overload”?), and so we take the party line, vote a straight ticket, and depend overly on others to help us identify the good guys and choose our battles. At the same time, in our self-indulgence, we may be more skilled in choosing our favorite fast food joint or barista than our political or moral allegiances. We pay our taxes, we go to church, we get our marching orders. “Ours is not to question why, ours is but to do or die.” I’m reminded of the “Galaxy Quest” TV sci-fi captain awaking from a hangover to a real war briefing for a real battle taking place on the other side of the galaxy–we just want the basics, “I got most of it. Sarris is the bad guy?”

Thank you for this. When I googled “Peter Berger World Shaking” I got a variety of quotes and references. You’re right about world-construction being in Sacred Canopy, though he uses “world-shaking” and “world-maintaining” on page 100 of my edition. I wonder if he changed terminology along the way.
Philip