Final Destination #4
The Good Earth — God’s Perfect Design (Part 1)
Last week we talked about how we should strive to become more and more like Jesus, the perfect human. This week we take a closer look at what being a ‘perfect human’ entails. From Genesis 1:27-28 we can see that God created us to have 3 distinct relationships: with God, with other humans, and with the world.
Firstly, our proper relationship with God should be to worship Him, but because of sin we have turned to idolatry and self-worship. Yet since we were created to have fellowship with God, this is something we will always crave. However, we as humans willfully ignore this ‘God-itch’ and the little reminders of God’s presence in the world which draw us back to him. Instead, we distract ourselves with busy schedules or entertainment.
To solve this problem, the Church has always said that we must ‘put God first’. Pastors often emphasize that we must put spiritual pursuits before earthly matters. They imply that stuff like Bible study, prayer and evangelism should be more important to us than family, friends, our job, our hobbies etc. However, unless we become a monk living a secluded life up in a mountain, our lives are packed with so-called non-spiritual activities. This can easily lead us to develop a weekly cycle of guilt and distraction— on Sundays we feel guilty because the pastor says we must ‘put God first’, then come Monday we become distracted again by our jobs and the many, many daily tasks which demand our attention. There has to be a better way…
In Matthew 13:24-51, Jesus uses many different analogies to explain the ‘kingdom of heaven’. For example, the analogies of ‘The Wheat and the Weeds’ and ‘The Net’ both teach us that at present, the righteous have been allowed to coexist with the wicked, but there will come a time when they will be judged and separated. Likewise, the analogies of ‘The Mustard Seed’ and ‘The Leaven’ imply that we are still a part of ‘the world’ (i.e. ‘the tree’ and ‘the dough’ respectively). Hence, a true disciple of Christ must not shun the world but actively participate in it, which makes sense since we coexist with the wicked. However, the analogies of ‘The Treasure’ and ‘The Pearl’ teach that we must forsake everything and solely pursue God and His kingdom. But how are we to do that while actively participating in the world at the same time?
In order to reconcile these two ideas, we must realize that ‘putting God first’ is not exclusive, but inclusive. He is not exclusive, in that we must put everything aside to make room for Him. Rather, because God is the Creator of every aspect of life, putting Him first means that all these other things matter too. Instead of having to choose between God on one side and everything else on the other side, we should place God at the centre of the wheel of life, allowing Him to be included and involved in everything that we do on this earth. As Colossians 3:23 says, ‘Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.’ In other words, it is not what we do, as long as we do it with the goal of honoring and glorifying Him.
‘Whatever we do’ on this earth naturally involves (1) other people, and (2) the material world in general (we will leave #2 for the next session). I’m sure we can all agree that God’s good design in terms of our relationship with other people is that we love our neighbours. But who exactly is our neighbor? We live in a modern world where we simultaneously have too many neighbours and too few neighbours. We live in a global village where we are constantly inundated by countless needs from across the globe. At the same time, automation in transportation, communication and official transactions etc. has greatly minimized our daily interactions with other human beings, causing our lives to become increasingly isolated.
How then are we to love others in this modern world? Significantly, according to James 2:14-26, ‘loving others’ involves looking after their physical needs. Essentially, what we are to do is to restore ‘shalom’ to the world. The Biblical concept of shalom is more than just a sense of peace or the absence of conflict; it is a ‘universal flourishing, wholeness and delight’. In other words, restoring shalom means restoring the world to what it should be, i.e. before the Fall. Since Earth is our final destination, this involves both spiritual as well as material reality. As such, the impoverishment of both must be properly addressed— by preaching the Gospel spiritually and practicing it materially.
Hence, as Christians we are to be true restorers of shalom. This means being globally aware of international issues, for the abuse of our fellow image-bearers or of our world should naturally matter to us, and if nothing else we can at least pray, and care. We must also be locally active, doing our best to bring a slice of shalom to our corner of the planet, both spiritually and materially. Even the little things go a long way, like picking up the trash or smiling at the cashier.
Yet the James passage constantly talks of these ‘deeds’ in terms of ‘faith’, because at the end of the day, no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to restore shalom to the world perfectly. Rather, our shalom-restoring efforts merely herald the coming Kingdom of God when Christ will make all things perfect. Yet this doesn’t mean we should just sit around and wait for Him, for true faith is active. If we truly look forward to the Kingdom of God, we would want to make this world look as much like it as possible. Plus, if we truly believe in the Spirit’s empowerment, we would have the confidence and motivation to act. Hence, true faith equals deeds.
And by coming together as the body of Christ, we become a stronghold of faith, strengthening and encouraging one another to stand firm. At the same time, together we become a beacon of shalom, as our individual lights combine to shine a brighter, more heaven-like spot on Earth that will be a beacon to those in the darkness. However, it is easy to feel despair and helplessness when we encounter the incredibly flawed and disunited people within the Church. In such times, it is useful to remember that when Paul talked about ‘the good fight’ in 2 Timothy 4:2-7, he wasn’t just talking about a solo marathon of personal integrity and faith. Rather, he exhorted Timothy to ‘proclaim the message’ and to ‘rebuke, correct and encourage’, and described himself as ‘being poured out as a drink offering’. Paul is saying, yes, it is an incredible struggle to maintain unity and sound doctrine within the body of Christ. But it is a ‘good fight’— therefore we must continue fighting; we mustn’t give up!