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If we are thinking theologically, we cannot in this illustration cast the corporate bosses as guilty exploiters and the workers as innocent victims. Rather, we see how the Enemy works to seduce and insulate powerful people from perceiving the suffering of their underlings. The bosses of workers in unjust situations are not evil in themselves. They are in bondage to the desire for profit, so that they think of their workers as means to an end, if they think of them at all. Who can loosen such bonds? God alone. Therefore, social action undertaken in the sight of God has the potential to liberate not only the workers but also the bosses, not to mention the activists themselves! This is the uniquely Christian vision based in the knowledge of the power of God for the justification of the ungodly (Rom. 4:5; 5:6).

An encouraging set of developments in recent years is a broadening focus in evangelical circles, much noted by the press. When some evangelicals recently signed the Evangelical Declaration Against Torture in 2007, when Rick Warren started talking about the root causes of poverty, when other leaders acknowledged the threat of global warming, those were signs of God on the move. These are the witnesses that truly bring us notice from the culture at large. Sexual behavior is a very important indicator of Christian discipleship, but it is not the only front on which God has enlisted us to fight.

A new social-action hero like William Wilberforce would indeed bring honor to God. But it may be that God will use numbers of more ordinary Christians, banding together to bring down more fortresses of the Enemy—racial injustice, poverty, pollution, inferior education, sex trafficking, inadequate health care, prison recidivism, political corruption, and yes, terrorism—but without terror on our part, for this would truly be to doubt the cruciform power of God, who in his Son has already undone the Enemy once and for all.

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Previous Christian Vision Project themes were culture in 2006 and mission in 2007. 2008 articles include:

The Poverty of Love | The desert fathers and mothers would know instantly why our gospel is too small. (April 30, 2008)

An Open-Handed Gospel | We have to decide whether we have a stingy or a generous God. (April 3, 2008)

The 8 Marks of a Robust Gospel | Reviving forgotten chapters in the story of redemption. (February 29, 2008)

Singing in the Chains | To be saved means more than we might think. (January 31, 2008)

The Lima Bean Gospel | The Good News is so much bigger than we make it out to be. (January 8, 2008)

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June 2008, Vol. 52, No. 6