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On the positive side: History teaches us that Christianity actually introduced the idea of separating church and state. This is one insight of British writer Roger Scruton in his provocative book, The West and the Rest. Though Europe has blurred the distinction at times, it has formally acknowledged that the roles of church and state are unique.

Today, Scruton argues, Europe has exaggerated this insight. In many countries there is now a wall of separation. This, he says, quickly degenerates into a purely diverse and eventually secular state that pushes religious values to the fringe. What is needed is a society where religious values engage society. These values should not be ruled out as an imposition on nonreligious citizens. All citizens have a right to argue that a particular trajectory is best for all.

We avoid the pitfalls of history (confusion of religion and state, or their utter divorce) by reminding ourselves that we are part of a people who manifest the kingdom of God on earth, a kingdom that transcends national groupings or concerns. The church is ultimately a cross-cultural agent of transformation that is to serve all its neighbors, even those outside our nation. As such, the church is a unique entity with a unique calling. This is hard to remember sometimes, because most of us participate in a local community whose values often dominate our perspective. However, the global perspective of the church is crucial, even as God has placed us in a particular locale.

Nothing makes the difference between local and transcendent values more evident than when Christians from many nations gather in a community. That can happen in a multicultural church, or at an international meeting. All of a sudden, I as a North American meet with a brother or sister who views politics and culture from the perspective of Africa or Asia or Latin America.

I know this experience firsthand. While studying in Germany last year, I attended an international church, where the ethnic makeup included believers from Germany, the United States, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Participating in international Christian gatherings has also taught me how God is working in the church around the world. This has often made me pause as I think about how my culture, both American and Christian, influences that world. I have learned much from these believers from other nations and contexts, sometimes about how I have mixed culture and Christianity inappropriately, because they can take a fresh look from outside my culture.

The church can uniquely model a redeemed society for societies that are fallen. Churches can incarnate the very reconciliation Jesus died to provide. And we can do so in the manner he provided it, not through coercion or compulsion or angry argument. Rather, we can offer evidence of a lived value system that stands out as an expression of both love and truth. We do our best when we make the case that the values we contend for are best for all of us, believer and nonbeliever alike.

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September 2005, Vol. 49, No. 9