The Air We Breath

By Matt Green

For many of us, the present moment of cultural and geopolitical unrest can feel unsettling. Even if we do not doubt God is still sovereign over all the chaos, we may feel increasing uncertainty about the relevance—and even the understandability—of the Christian message in a complex and pluralistic world.

In his sweeping study of the influence of Christian thought on Western civilization, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, Tom Holland (the historian, not the Spiderman actor) explores how the words of Jesus, the writings of the apostles and the teachings of the early church shape our world. Even those who disdain Christian dogma cannot escape the influence of foundational principles that 2,000 years of biblical ethics have given the world.

While self-proclaimed Christians have been justifiably condemned for perpetuating injustice, violence, discrimination and all manner of mischief in the name of their faith, the arguments for resisting, repenting of and repairing the effects of those same wicked deeds have usually been grounded in an appeal to a Christian, not a secular, ethic.

First-century Christians rescued abandoned infants and cared for the sick—whether pagan or fellow believers—to the astonishment of fellow Romans. Nineteenth-century abolitionists fought for the eradication of the slave trade, citing biblical truth about the equality of human beings. From child labor laws to prohibitions on prostitution and criminal justice reform—all have been grounded in a Christian understanding of human dignity.

As Holland notes, even the #MeToo movement of the 21st century echoes the revolutionary (and, at the time, laughable) call of the early church that men should not treat women as sexual objects. Christian values are in the air we breathe, even if we don’t acknowledge their source or give credence to the faith that undergirds them.

So, what does this mean for leaders navigating what appears to be a post-Christian culture? For one, it should cause us to be confident that the truths of the Bible have relevance—even to those who don’t regard them as valid. The principles given in Scripture are not just obscure rules with no benefit apart from earning divine merit or avoiding divine wrath. They are genuinely designed by the Creator for the flourishing of His creation.

At the same time, when disconnected from authentic, lived faith, an attempt to promote a Christian ethic appears to a watching world to be utter hypocrisy. Christian leaders are judged by the standards we claim to hold, and a watching world can be as stubborn to overlook faults and sins as the most puritanical religious sect. Just as Christian values have informed Western law and culture, these same values will likely erode if the church declines—the effects of which would be felt by everyone, whether they are people of faith or not.

The good news is that these values are not dependent on legal legitimacy or cultural acceptance. They have always been lived out in contexts where the heavy lifting of cultural transformation takes place—the homes, businesses, churches, missions, hospitals and orphanages where people take those values seriously.