Due to the recent debate on atheism, I have just read an
interesting post from a believers standpoint that I thought I would
post up for those who are interested in the debate.
By John Piper
The church exists to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in
all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. That
is our mission. All things means business, industry, education,
media, sports, arts, leisure, government, and all the details of
our lives.
Ideally this means God should be recognized and trusted as supreme
by every person he has made. But the Bible teaches plainly that
there will never be a time before Jesus comes back when all people
will honor him as supreme (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).
So how do we express a passion for Gods supremacy in a pluralistic
world where most people do not recognize God as an important part
of their lives, let alone an important part of government or
education or business or industry or art or recreation or
entertainment?
Answer: We express a passion for the supremacy of God...
1) by maintaining a conviction at all times that God is
ever-present and gives all things their most important meaning. He
is the Creator, Sustainer, and Governor of all things. We must keep
in our minds the truth that all things exist to reveal something of
Gods infinite perfections. The full meaning of everything, from
shoestrings to space shuttles, is the way they relate to God.
2) by trusting God in every circumstance to use his creative,
sustaining, governing wisdom and power to work all things together
for the good of all who love him. This is faith in the future grace
of all that God promises to be for us in Jesus.
3) by making life choices that reveal the supreme worth of God
above what the world values supremely. The steadfast love of the
Lord is better than life (Psalm 63:3). So we will choose to die
rather than lose sweet fellowship with God. This will show his
supremacy over all that life offers.
4) by speaking to people of Gods supreme worth in creative and
persuasive ways, and by telling people how they can be reconciled
to God through Christ, so that they can enjoy Gods supremacy as
protection and help, rather than fear it as judgment.
5) by making clear that God himself is the foundation for our
commitment to a pluralistic democratic order not because
pluralism is his ultimate ideal, but because in a fallen world,
legal coercion will not produce the kingdom of God. Christians
agree to make room for non-Christian faiths (including
naturalistic, materialistic faiths), not because commitment to
Gods supremacy is unimportant, but because it must be voluntary,
or it is worthless. We have a God-centered ground for making room
for atheism. If my kingship were of this world, my servants would
fight (John 18:36). The fact that God establishes his kingdom
through the supernatural miracle of faith, not firearms, means that
Christians in this age will not endorse coercive governments
Christian or secular.
This is why we resist the coercive secularization implied in some
laws that repress Christian activity in public places. It is not
that we want to establish Christianity as the law of the land. That
is intrinsically impossible, because of the spiritual nature of the
kingdom. It is rather because repression of free exercise of
religion and persuasion is as wrong against Christians as it is
against secularists.
We believe this tolerance is rooted in the very nature of the
gospel of Christ. In one sense, tolerance is pragmatic: freedom and
democracy seem to be the best political order humans have
conceived.
But for Christians it is not purely pragmatic: the spiritual,
relational nature of Gods kingdom is the ground of our endorsement
of pluralism, until Christ comes with rights and authority that we
do not have.
Originally published in A Godward Life (Multnomah, 1997)
