Those Who Lack Imagination

The church has certainly had her share of failures throughout the years. I think of the German church’s stance during Hitler’s rise to power. In the United States I think of the Southern church’s silence during Civil War or worse yet their vocal support of slavery and racial views i.e. Robert Louis Dabney. (One of the great challenges we face as a denomination could be seen in how we come to terms with some of our greatest theological minds actually being blinded to sins of their cultural settings.) I think also of the conservative, white church’s relative silence during the civil rights movement. And this is only in the recent past. I won’t go back far enough to address The Crusades or the “evangelization” of the native populations of the New World.

Granted, I am painting with admittedly broad brushstrokes. I do not mean to ignore the amazing contributions of men like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others who stood boldly for righteousness at the risk of their own reputations and often their lives. But the point remains that we are faced with glaring failures of the church to address what was happening in the culture around them at times of great significance.

Of course this should come as no surprise, especially to those of us whose theology addresses directly the sad state of the human condition post-Fall. We are a broken people living in a broken world operating under a broken system until all is made new again. “Come quickly, Lord Jesus,” we say. This brokenness invades all aspects of creation including Christ’s church. Even within the church, we are a fallen people living under the implications and limitations of that very fallenness.

This leads my admittedly “green” and immature mind to wander to a seemingly obvious question. Where is the church today, either through willful disobedience or through passive ignorance, turning a blind eye to grave injustice? Could it be in our lack of attention to the poor and the needy? Could it be in our lack of engagement with those who we would consider to be “less than”, regardless of whatever categories we would consider that to entail? What about the fact that there are legions of young girls (and a growing number of young boys) across the globe being sold into the sex trade annually? Could it be in our callous acceptance that there is much suffering in the world, but that there is seemingly little that we can do about it? We throw our hands up and declare our inability to effect any reasonable change, so why bother?

Among many other possible answers, I believe that one of the greatest failures of the church today, one thing that hinders her from being the voice of Truth and the very hands and feet of Christ is this. Christ’s church today is suffering from an overwhelming case of a complete lack of imagination. One of the most underutilized tools in our endeavor to foster growth in the redemption of all of this brokenness is the simple phrase, “Why not?

“We can’t cure poverty,” we say. Why not? Granted, the poor will always be with us until Christ returns. But let us not fall into the trap of abusing good theology. The fact that the poor will always be with us is not an excuse to ignore the poor! We cannot completely do away with the issue, but we just might make a difference for one family.

“We can’t erase racism and classism.” Why not? Again, the fact that falleness will be with us until our Savior’s return is not an excuse to ignore blatant injustice! We may not do away with prejudice and bigotry completely, but we might be able to change the tone in one community. And if there are other communities of brothers and sisters in Christ doing the same thing, then who knows what can happen?

“There is no way to completely eradicate the global sex trade. It’s just too massive. What can a house wife in Brook Highland do about 11 year old prostitutes in Thailand? I can’t make a difference.” Why not? What if our engagement meant that there could be just one less child being raped for profit? Would it be worth our effort then?

The call to follow Christ is so much more than having our worldly troubles replaced with warm fuzzies by a grandfather Santa Claus in the sky. The gospel of the spectacular grace of God in Christ not only calls us out of sin but it calls us into action. Nothing less than the redemption of all of creation is the ultimate goal and we have been given a spot on the front lines! So go forth, repent deeply, live boldly, enter the fight wildly. Be willing to ask frustratingly subversive questions like “Why not?” Ask God to move, and expect him to.