Last night I was asked about a serious of prints hanging in our school library that portray a civilization developing out of nature, flourishing into a golden age, and then decaying into ruins. Someone remarked that we should probably take down the decaying into ruins part.
Here's an argument for keeping that front and center. Every civilization, except the very young ones alive today, have all over ripened, stunk to high heaven, and died. Every civilization except the one based on the church instituted by Christ.
Jesus never promised that the gates of hell wouldn't prevail against Constantine, medieval Christianity, the Great American Awakenings, or the Energizer Bunny. "The Bunny, the Bunny, Oh! I love the Bunny." Ok, I stop it now.
He promises that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church because he is the chief cornerstone. That means the source of Christian civilization will keep it "going and going and going." The church has outlasted every philosophical fad that predicted its demise from Voltaire, to Nietzsche, to Sartre.
So the question remains, what are we building on? What are we investing our time, talent, and treasure in? Is it a kingdom of the world, or are we trying to reform those kingdoms with the everlasting truth of Christ crucified, risen, reigning, and returning.
2 comments:
Sadly, we have fallen prey to a narrow and myopic worldview; one that impacts our engagement of society on every level. In politics, it tells us to place our highest and best hopes in a man, a party or a particular ideology and then we're ready to bid farewell to life as we've known it when "our man" losses an election. The end result of this is often demonstrated in the defense of our Constitution with the same vigor we muster to defend the very Word of God, as if the former were infallible and inerrant. Civilization, as we recognize it, is largely our construct. We - and by we I mean Covenantal/Reformed Christians who ought to know better - are guilty of confusing our idea for God's; our ideal for God's ideal. I suspect God's conception of civilization looks much different than ours. We conceive of a shining city on a hill. A grand vision, to be sure, but is this really God's vision or just what we desperately wish it to be? Isn't there a book that analogizes the building of a house on sinking sand ... Hmmm. We're clearly not ready for the wind and rain.
Which is why we should hang a crucifix and maybe that print of Peter and John running to the tomb.
Diana
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