The method of the Church's impact upon society at large should be twofold. First, the Church must announce Christian principles and point out where the existing social order is in conflict with them. Second, it must the pass on to Christian citizens, acting in their civic capacities, the task of reshaping the existing order in closer conformity to the principles.
This is a point of first-rate importance, and it is frequently misunderstood. If Christianity is true at all, it is a truth of universal application.
The Church is likely to be attacked from both sides if it does its duty. It will be told that it has become "political" when it has merely stated its principles and pointed out when they have been breached. The Church will be told by advocates of particular policies that is is futile because it does not support theirs. If the Church is faithful to its commission, it will ignore both sets of complaints and continue as far as it can to influence all citizens and permeate both parties.
We are dealing with Original Sin, the least popular of traditional Christianity. It may be expressed in simple terms as follows: Our standard of value is the way things affect us. Each of us takes our place in the center of our own world. . . . Education may make my self-centeredness less disastrous by widening my horizons. But this is like climbing a tower which widens the horizons of my vision while leaving me still the center of reference. The only way to deliver me from my self-centeredness is by winning my entire heart's devotion, the total allegiance of my will to God - and this can only be done by the Divine Love of God disclosed by Christ in his life and death.
Part of the task of the Church is to help people to order their lives in order to lead them to what they ought to be. Assuming they are already as they ought to be always leads to disaster. . . . Although Christianity supplies no ideal [society], it does supply something of far more value, anmely, preinciples on which we can begin to act in every possible situation.
Our true value is not what we are worth in ourselves, but what we are worth to God, and that worth is bestowed upon us by the utterly gratuitous love of God. . . . The State exists for its citizens, not the citizens for the State. But neither must we treat ourselves, or conduct our lives, as if we were ourselves the center of our own value. We are not our own ends. Our value is our worth to God, and our end is "to glorify God and enjoy him forever."
We must be treated as we actually are but always with a view to what in God's purpose we are destined to become. For the law, the social order, is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. (pp. 223-227)
Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive approval; for it is God's servant for your good. (Romans 13:4)I've never felt adept with trying to work out my Christianity in the realm of politics. I have felt caught on the horns of the dilemma that Temple writes about. I feel "damned if I do and damned if I don't." I feel criticized when I venture political opinions that are based on scriptural principles because they are perceived as mere opinions and "merely spiritual." On the other hand, when such opinions are from an opposing or different political position than the person I am speaking with, I am quickly dismissed as just being part of the opposition if I don't fully espouse their particular ideals. Because of this, I keep a low profile and avoid most political conversations.
My solution is not viable. I end up speaking about what I shouldn't and keeping silent when I should speak. Everything has political implications when I understand that politics is about having social order and governing that social order. The "duck and run" policy that I have leaves the decisions for governing in someone else's hands. I must leave many things up to others to govern and determine. Free reign, however, is a bad idea.
This is where Temple's issue of Original Sin kicks in. People are predisposed to self-centeredness. As a result, it is a disaster to leave people where they are and not move them to where they ought to be. Goodness is where we ought to be. Goodness is best understood in the purposes of God. As a Christian, I need to understand that people will not serve nor seek God "naturally," but will need law and government to lead them to him. Freedom, in our current culture, needs to move away from tied to mere desire be anchored in what is good.
Without this idea and movement toward what is good, desires tear communities and nations apart as well as my own life. In Original Sin, impulsive desire rules. Where such desire rules, no social order can long stand. Everyone for himself is the shortcut to anarchy, where people act more like animals than human beings.
So what am I to do about this, especially in the realm of politics? I need to apply the principles of Christianity to such places and expect that there will be criticism. I need to live out of those principles and encourage others to do the same. In the realm of our nation, I need to remember that "Sin is lawlessness." (1 John 3:4) Submission is often my first duty.
Within that duty, however, lies this truth: Merely obeying the law is not righteousness. The heart of relinquishing self-centeredness and doing good always lies in God's purposes and ends, not my own. Law easily becomes a justification for self-centeredness when it is not tied to the goodness of God's mercy and his purposes.
When I receive God's mercy, I begin to who that I can be humble enough to truly obey laws and not just use them for my own purposes. When I accept God's purposes, I begin to find that laws can bring him honor, even when they inconvenience me. They show that there is authority above my own and that all my ideas and desires are not good. The schoolmaster of civic law can bring me closer to Christ through such humility.
How does this deepen my compassion? I realize that all people are in need of saving from Original Sin. We are not what we ought to be. I see that even in rather unsavory realm of politics, there are opportunities to learn humility and goodness for each person. I see that lawlessness does not aid compassion, but instead attacks and curtails it from flowing in society. I suppose I could say that laws are the means by which compassion flows through society, when it functions as it should.
Lord, teach me to be a channel and messenger of your peace and order. Wean me from lawlessness, whether I am practicing it or allowing it. Let me live by your rule and encourage others to do so as well. Amen.
I begin to see the bigger picture of sin in society and how my silence can make me an accomplice to the many crimes of greed and anger that rage in our country. I plan on praying and speaking more about these issues.
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