Presently, I am involved in a study of Simply Jesus, a book written by my favorite Biblical scholar, N.T. Wright. We are nearing the end of this book, beginning Part 3, and its final chapter, Chapter 15 ~ Jesus: The Ruler of the World. At this point Dr. Wright has offered four opinions about the statement that Jesus is presently King of Heaven and of Earth, personalizing those opinions with the names: Andy, Billy, Chris, and Davie. We’ve already discussed the worldviews of Andy and Billy, and we’ve come to Chris’ thoughts about Jesus’ authority over Heaven and Earth. What should it look like, if it were really so, that Jesus ruled the Earth today, and how do we know?
Chris really believes, Jesus is the Ruler of both Heaven and Earth, today, contrary to the opinions of both Andy and Billy. Yet, we have to ask, how in the world could Chris, or anyone who knows anything about Jesus, believe that he is ruling our present world, considering all its troubles? What Chris believes is that the Lord, Jesus, as King of the Earth is involved in, and probably inspired worldwide movements that have occurred in the past or are now occurring, and these are movements of change. Moreover, if Jesus’ disciples, today, wish to truly follow him, we need to come to recognize, what he is doing in the world, and become involved as his helpers. Chris draws his understanding from Colossians 1:23, wherein Paul is encouraging the Colossians, who have been called out of the world unto Christ, to remain faithful to their calling:
“…if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, without shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.”
Notice that God had determined to reach the world with the Gospel (cp. Matthew 24:14; 28:19), the witness of what Jesus said and did, and Paul became a servant of that movement. Indeed, there have been worldwide movements through our history, since the coming of Christ in the first century AD. Some were begun by Christians, while other clearly were not. Some of those begun by unbelievers may have been inspired by Christian ideals, but it isn’t clear that all were. Clearly, the Gospel was a Christian thing, and it was and still is a worldwide movement, stirred up by the Lord, Jesus (Matthew 28:19). Works of mercy toward both young and old are Christian ideals, but the movement toward mercy is a labor of both believers and unbelievers. The education of the masses, seems to have begun as a Judeo-Christian idea, but is presently a worldwide concern, believed in and practiced by all nations, even those who are not religious.[1]
Examples of other worldwide movements are:
- patriarchy in the Bible and continued in modern Christian churches,
- feminism that seeks to correct patriarchy in modern churches,
- Darwinism that seeks to be the voice of biological science,
- racism that abuses the innocent in the name of God,
- woman’s liberation that seeks equal rights for woman in the world (socially, economically and politically),
Nevertheless, not all are begun by God, and those that are, aren’t so clearly the work of Christ that all or even most Christians recognize to be so. Therefore, Chris’ idea of “helping” God is about as clear as Abraham’s and Sarai’s in Genesis 16:1-2.
In my opinion, ‘things’ or ‘movements’ such as these are all a part of what we can call: “The Lord’s Table.” We see that there is an appointed time and season for all works under the sun (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), for both desirable and undesirable matters: life and death; love and hate; destruction and building; speaking out and being silent, etc. Whomsoever we believe Ezekiel prophesied against in chapter-39, the Lord claimed the outcome of that war was his Table, which he laid before the heathen (Ezekiel 39:20-21). The dead were the Lord’s sacrifices (Ezekiel 39:19) to the end that both the heathen and Israel would know him (Ezekiel 39:21-23).
Moreover, we are able to participate at the Lord’s Table either worthily or unworthily (Malachi 1:7, 12). Most Christians have interpreted Malachi to be the wrong type of sacrifices (works, gifts etc.) God’s servants make to him in worship. Without denying that interpretation, it can also be understood as recognizing worldwide movements, which God uses as part of his Table (Ezekiel 39:20-21) but participating in those trends against God’s goal, similar to taking the wrong stand in the racism movement, the issue of abortion or gay rights and so forth, because it is possible for Christians to oppose Christ in what he is presently doing (1Corinthians 10:21). Not all worldwide movements are begun by God, but all movements seem to be used by God to bring a good end (Romans 8:28). Our responsibility in all this seems to be, not so much which side we take, but, instead ask WWJD and behave accordingly.
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[1] I don’t believe in the idea of a Christian nation. Great harm to the work of Christ is done in the name of working to make a nation Christian. Matthew 28:19 is all about making disciples of **people**, not nations. Many Christians in America believe America was founded on the idea that it is or should be a Christian nation. It is not, was not ever and never will be a Christian nation. The best it can ever be is a nation, in which there are many Christians that influence its behavior in the world, not as a group effort to force compliance, but as an individual effort of folks who simply want to live out an image of Jesus.
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