The missional power of goodness
My mates at onmovements.com have got a copy of Rodney Stark’s new book, Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome. I have not read this book, but am very appreciative of Rodney Stark’s socio-historical insights on movements. In his The Rise of Christianity (which I have read), he describes how the marginal Jesus movement eventually became the dominant religious force and effectively ‘conquered’ Rome. In describing the history of the early church he inadvertently made an indirect but strong case for the need for compassionate engagement as a means to legitimize the proclamation of the Gospel–that social engagement by God’s people gives credibility to the claims of the Gospel. It seems that he has now produced a book that describes why that is the case. Here is a quote from his latest book (thanks to the guys at onmovements.com)
The power of Christianity lay not in its promise of otherworldly compensations for suffering in this life, as has so often been proposed. No, the crucial change that took place in the third century was the rapidly spreading awareness of a faith that delivered potent antidotes to life’s miseries here and now! The truly revolutionary aspect of Christianity lay in moral imperatives such as “Love one’s neighbor as oneself,” “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” and “When you did it to the least of my brethren, you did it unto me.” These were not just slogans. Members did nurse the sick, even during epidemics; they did support orphans, widows, the elderly, and the poor; they did concern themselves with the lot of slaves. In short, Christians created “a miniature welfare state in an empire which for the most part lacked social services.” It was these responses to the long-standing misery of life in antiquity, not the onset of worse conditions, that were the ‘material’ changes that inspired Christian growth.
I am absolutely convinced that this is critical for the viability and success of mission-to-the-West in our time and place. That to get a viable hearing in a post-modern, post-Christian, post-Christendom context (a context thus effectively immunized against the claims of the Gospel) we have to recover the sheer transformational power of goodness. Goodness and compassion give what we say legitimacy and credibility.
Actually this was always the case. That this needs to be said shows how far we have separated things that belong inextricably together. God forgive us.
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Hi Al… good to see you in the blogosphere.
I’ve got nothing deep to add to the post except a hearty Amen.
Alan, I resonate with this.
Its interesting to me that at some point in time we moved from trusting a persons spoken intention to do something (their ‘word’) to a more cynical position of mistrust by default. This no doubt fed the divorce
Without being too provocative, for me their is a sense that God has a monopoly on goodness. The application of this goodness is not just dispersed through the agency of the church.
With this in mind, I’d be interested in hearing how people view the good works of other faiths - especially as to how they would rate their influential power in an apologetical sense.
This is the kind of Christianity that I want to be a part of. I just finished a paper on Spanish colonialism in Mexico, and the sooner post-Christensdom comes, the better.
It seems to me that anyone who has received or observed acts of kindness by a person of faith are likely to become more open to that faith. It does not cause religious conversion, but it may provoke interest in that religion… because most of us are hungry for love and kindness and goodness.
I think “acts of goodness” give our faith legitimacy - they put legs on it so to speak. Historically Christianity has been associated with compassion - the abolition of child labour, caring for the homeless etc. Now “goodness” is contracted out to church auspiced welfare organisations (I happen to work for one), and acts of goodness for the church goer can be reduced to a donation. Broadly speaking, Christians are now more “famous” for moral stances and irrelevance than compassion.
Touche Christina, it seems we have substituted ‘goodness’ with ‘morality’ - that sucks! Cos, I don’t see Jesus as a moralist at all. I just can’t.
As for Simons comment, I think part of our problem as protestants is that we devalue goodness for fear that we will make it a ‘means of salvation.’ It can never be that, but that should not mean that it is devalued. It follows us to heaven (we are judged by the quality of our deeds/actions! Yes this is NT teaching) As far as I am concerned ‘goodness is goodness’ no matter where it comes from. But is is never the basis of salvation. Actually it never was.
I forgot to add that Eph.2:10 says that ‘…we are created in the Messiah Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do.” We are actually made to do them things! And God set it up that way.
this is the history that the future is made of… bring it on!
not simply that we emulate the goodness of our forefathers in history, but we participate in the goodness prepared before human history ever began. we walk into good stuff that has always existed in the spirit realm - because god spoke it into being - and by seeing it in the spiritual and doing it in the natural we walk it out of the spiritual realm and into the natural… “thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven!”
in the words of another genius “we are spirits in a material world.” we need continual connection to that world - which is our response of worship, whatever shape that takes - and it must translate into good works… the whole protestant fear thing drives me nuts… we need to get over ourselves…
we don’t do good stuff for others from a motivation to gain god’s favour or avoid his displeasure - not from fear - god didn’t give me a spirit of fear. precisely because of our gratitude for his gracious favour, we are inspired to respond in the likeness of a good god and do good stuff… that’s the dog wagging the tail - all too often the stuff we hear preached (maybe even have preached!)is coming from the wrong end of the dog!!
the ramblings of a celtic son
I’m not really into the Blog conversation thing but I thought I’d throw in this verse to the conversation re the missional power of goodness: (1 Pet 2:12 NIV
) Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Here’s another scripture (Mat 5:16 NIV
) In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Good to have the mighty TazDaz visit us. e are humbled!
Nothing like good deeds as opposed to telling people how we want them to live. At the same time good works must for their own sake….not just another ‘hook and bait’ used by evangelicals to recruit followers.
I am not sure I am following you, Alan, on Jesus not being a moralist. Isn’t it too bold to assert “morality” sucs? Stretch me here if necessary but fundamentally to truly know/experience grace is to know morally we are condemned by Law or conscience. Jesus the moralist I think said be holy/perfect, recognition of our lack of it can make some and culture hungry for righteousness - i.e. - Bono recognized “immorality/injustice” of the world’s neglect of Africa and began to ask God what can a Rock Star do?
Yo seekingkalos…
my understanding, of the differences you’re approaching with Alan, would be that the root of our concept of “morality,” in western christianity, comes predominantly from “conservative evangelicalism” (i realise that it is dangerous to use such terminology without explaining it… but i’m trying to avoid writing a 25,000 word analysis - which is not necessarily helpful in blogosphere!)
moralism is a standard imposed on someone from external sources, where my understanding of jesus is that he speaks to humanity about the reality of who we are individually and internally. jesus seeks to bring the true me out from behind the masks i have created and have allowed to be imposed.
my observation is that generally “conservative evangelicalism” misses the person of the word and hence his true character and intent, in a desire to uphold the written word… what do i mean!?
i mean that because of that kind of mindset, infiltrating our thinking we interpret rather than just read. we read jesus saying be holy and we hear a command to live up to an impossible standard, and therefore we say jesus is a moralist - and consequently that the church is an institution of moralism. is that kind of definition consistent with the portrayal of jesus and his church that we see throughout the scriptures? i’m not convinced that defintion of jesus is consistent with the person i read about, the person i have encountered…
consider this possibile understanding of what jesus intended us to hear… when jesus says “be holy” he does not so much call us to do something, as he confers status upon us. what I hear jesus saying is “because of what i’ve done, in obedience to the father, you ARE now holy… so go and be free to be who you i’m telling you, you are - be holy”
to know grace is to encounter christ, to be awestruck by encounter with him, to be so overwhelmed with god’s love for us that we cannot help but be changed. however, we are not changed to become something we were not, we emerge, like a butterfly from the chrysalis, to become who god already created us to be.
we do not strive to put on who we are in christ - god has done all of that for us. our efforts are directed at shaking off the lies that have shaped us, the untruth that has recreated us as less than god created us to be - lies that we’ve participated in, lies that we’ve received, things said by others - moralism that’s come from external sources, blinding us to who we truly are internally…
i don’t know the internal motivation for bono’s actions, the consequence is certainly good. it may be purely motivated, but it may also be driven by another agenda related to fame and/or self-justification or self promotion - heaven only knows. works that come from the wrong motivation may have great outcomes, but the motivation is a significant issue…
you say “recognition of our lack of it (holy/righteousness) can make some and culture hungry for righteousness… i’m unconvinced. i think the jesus way is “recognition/revelation that, in christ, we already ARE(holy/righteous) bears fruit and makes people and the culture produce righteousness… in response to the great love shown to us by our god…
the shift in motivation moves us from a place of works - seeking to pacify and angry god - to a place of love - responding in kind to the love first shown to us… morality in that sense is in me for me to help me on my journey to become the me that god originally created me to be… and that’s freedom!!
the ramblings of a celtic son…
Seeingkalos. (I take it this name means seeing good in all things? - good name) I think there is a fundamental difference between being a moral person and moralism. Who wants to have a holiday with a moralist?? And the last think I think of when I think of Jesus was a moralist. In the hebrew worldview there is a qualitative difference between the ideas of holiness and that of morals. We are called to be holy. Nowhere are we called to be moralistic. Holiness is a religious concept. Moralism is an ethical concept.
I hope this helps clarify what I meant anyhow.
These are excellent descriptions and do find them helpful. The distinction between religious and ethical is not yet seen so clearly by me. I will chew on this a while. Maybe, perhaps the safe refuge or cave of the ethical is too close of a parallel of the safety found in religious code (albeit if it is true) as the Psalmist so oftenly celebrates.
Alan, the truth is that the comments posted are the result “in part” of living out the supremacy of the Great Commission for every believer to fulfill. My obsevations are such that I believe “authors” tend to stop just short of expecting all Christ followers to own personal responsibility for the Great Commission purposes which include all Christ followers making disciples who make disciples.
If we want a missional movement in the west it can not happen without personal ownership of the supreme Great Commission mandate for all Christ followers.
There is power in goodness and that “goodness” should flow out of our incarnational “Christ” reprentative lives with supreme priority to the purposes of the Great Commission.
This is so clear to me and so unclear to others.
My prayer is that God will move us from unawareness to awareness to implementation to results as we all live out the Great Commission mandate. Want Missional? Jesus gives us His plan if we will obey it.
Great post as aways!
good onya bob
revelation required…
this is the fruit that represents evidence of a healthy root…
“personal ownership of the supreme Great Commission mandate for all Christ followers.”
and here’s the healthy root…
“Jesus gives us His plan if we will obey it.”
Herein lies the answer to the great dilemma of the church globally and historically;
“if we will obey Jesus.”
“if we will obey Jesus.”
“if we will obey Jesus.”
“if we will obey Jesus.”
“if we will obey Jesus.”
will you, will i, will we? obedience is the primary step, the rest is detail…
more ramblings from a celtic son
“If we want a missional movement in the west it can not happen without personal ownership of the supreme Great Commission mandate for all Christ followers…. This is so clear to me and so unclear to others.”
Bob, I feel like I’ve just spotted and evangelist! All those with a strong gift of evangelism that I know feel like this… it drives them completely nutty to see other Christians doing lots of stuff (visiting the sick, dropping off casseroles, gardening for old people, counting offerings, whatever…) and failing to proclaim the gospel clearly. Grrr… growl… what’s the point??? Arggh!!!
If my hunch is correct… some of what you see genuinely is spiritual apathy… and some of it is simply people with vastly different spiritual gifts to you doing what God calls them to do. They are faithful disciples, and committed to the kingdom, but express this in fulfilling the many other commandments in the scriptures… feeding the hungry, doing justice, practicing hospitality, giving generously… etc.
Does that resonate with you at all?