Clash of Swords (3)

Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying,“This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” Acts 17.2, 3

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…Ephesians 6.17

Contrasting hopes
One area of conflict that arises between the Christian worldview and other worldviews relates to the great hope of each.

Increasingly in our society, the highest hope and fondest aspiration of the secular and materialist worldview is a world without want, where each person is free to prosper according to his desire and ability. This agenda has been adopted, in one form or another, by every Western government; and it is the basic organizing idea of the curriculum in America’s public schools and a prominent item on the agenda of politicians. For secular men and women, living under the protection of the sword of men, there is no higher or greater hope than personal peace and prosperity.

Prosperity within the secular worldview is defined in individual and material terms – as much of the good life as any person might want or be able to enjoy while making room for others to pursue the same quest. This is the hope of people who live, in Solomon’s words, “under the sun.” They can envision nothing higher than personal material prosperity, and the sense of wellbeing that comes with it; and they will be wary of any worldview which insists that there are other, higher aims in life, the attaining of which demands sacrifice and self-denial.

The secular worldview takes as its highest hope the glorification of man – again, defined in strictly personal and material terms –  while the Christian worldview hopes in the glory of God. Those who hold to the Christian worldview are called to make any sacrifice and endure any trial in the pursuit of that great hope.

Everything in its proper place
It’s not that the Christian worldview despises things and wealth. It doesn’t. It simply insists that these be kept in their proper place, “under the heavens,” and that the pursuit and use of material prosperity be subject to the demands of the Gospel. Love for God requires that Christians hope to please Him, not merely themselves or any other man, and that they not hold their material possessions too tightly, lest they fail to love their neighbors as themselves.

But in the secular worldview, in an economy of getting-and-spending, while, because of God’s common grace, many generous and caring people may be found, in the main, such things as self-denial or sacrifice on behalf of others, and giving generously and consistently to relieve the distress of others do not constitute a driving force or defining motif. Instead, they are more on the order of something to make us feel good about ourselves, no matter how meager our practice of them. The goal of a free and prosperous society is not pursued by appeals to the hearts and minds of a secular public, but by wielding political power in an agenda of regulations, entitlements, and redistribution of wealth.

A challenge to their hopes
The people who resisted the Apostle Paul and sought to enlist Caesar in silencing him were threatened by his preaching the hope of the resurrection. The hope of the Jews was in the preservation of their distinct identity through dutiful adherence to traditions and laws. The hope of the Romans was for an orderly and peaceful economy on earth where the pleasures and comfort of the few were achieved by the subjugation of the many. When Paul came, pointing men to the hope of the resurrection, announcing the coming of a Kingdom where all are equal before the Lord, and calling into question existing definitions of the good life, it was inevitable that he would find himself at odds with the power brokers of his day, Jewish and Roman alike.

The Gospel, in fact, goes so far as to insist that those who do not know the Lord are, in this world, without any real or reliable hope (Eph. 2.12). It makes a mockery of every human idol and teaches that the only true and lasting hope is to be found in the glory of God, known and lived (Rom. 5.1, 2; 2 Cor. 3.12-18; 1 Cor. 10.31).

Such notions trouble the hearts and pique the souls of those whom God is preparing for salvation, and so we must continue to insist on them, and to live out the hope which is ours.

But to the devoted secularist, the committed materialist, and the cultural elites whose wellbeing depends on the gullibility of the masses, maintained by the skillful wielding of the sword of men, exposing and denouncing the idols and false hopes of our secular culture will be received as a provocation deserving stiff resistance. The Sword of the Spirit will clash with the sword of men over the question of mankind’s great hope, and we must be prepared to stand firm, taking the Sword of the Spirit joyfully into every arena of life.

Like Paul, we must embrace the Christian hope and live and proclaim it boldly, knowing as we do that conflict with our contemporaries is inevitable.

For reflection
1.  Paul says that believers stand in the hope of God’s glory (Rom. 5.1, 2). What does this mean to you? How do you experience this hope?

2.  How do the media, politicians, and the public schools of the land promote the idea of peace and prosperity as a person’s highest hope? How do they resist the hope claims of the Gospel?

3.  “The Sword of the Spirit will clash with the sword of men over the question of mankind’s great hope, and we must be prepared to stand firm, taking the Sword of the Spirit joyfully into every arena of life.” What does this require of us as believers?

Next steps: How is it apparent to the people you see each week that you live a different hope than that which they are pursuing (1 Pet. 3.15)?

T. M. Moore

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This week’s study, Clash of Swords, is a bonus part 6 of a 6-part series on a Biblical view of government and politics, and is available as a free download by clicking here. We cannot understand God’s view of government, or how to function in a political environment apart from faith in King Jesus and His rule. Order T. M.’s books The Kingship of Jesus  and The Ground for Christian Ethics to supplement our studies of God and government.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.